LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PRINCETON.  N.  J. 
Presented  by 


Division. 


M5«37 


Section 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/transylvaniain1900corn_0 


THE  REV.  JOSEPH  FERENCZ,  for  more 
than  fifty  years  Bishop  of  the  Unitarian  Churches 
in  Transylvania.  Photograph  taken  in  1922. 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 


TRANSYLVANIA 


IN  1022 


Report  of  the  Commission  sent  by 
the  American  and  British 
Unitarian  Churches 
to  Transylvania 
in  IQ22 


Ak 
A>v 


COMPILED  BY 

v/ 

LOUIS  C.  CORNISH 


THE  BEACON  PRESS,  INC. 

25  Beacon  Street  •  Boston,  Mass. 


Copyright,  1923, 

By  The  Beacon  Press,  Inc. 


All  rights  reserved 


FOREWORD 


Transylvania,  until  by  the  signing  of  the  Trianon 
Treaty  it  was  given  to  Roumania,  was  the  easternmost 
province  of  Hungary.  About  21,000  square  miles  in 
area,  it  is  roughly  equal  in  extent  to  the  States  of  New 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island  and  Con¬ 
necticut,  and  is  one  of  the  richest  lands  in  all  Europe 
in  minerals  and  in  agricultural  fertility. 

From  the  time  of  the  Reformation  strong  Protestant 
churches  have  existed  here  and  are  now  represented  by 
the  Presbyterian,  Lutheran  and  Unitarian  denom¬ 
inations. 

The  Unitarian  churches,  as  is  true  of  the  others,  are 
closely  organized  under  the  management  of  a  rep¬ 
resentative  Consistory  and  a  Bishop  elected  for  life. 

In  1922  the  American  and  British  Unitarian  churches 
sent  a  Commission  to  visit  their  sister  churches  in 
Transylvania,  the  oldest  group  of  Unitarian  churches 
in  the  world.  Similar  official  visitations  have  been 
made  occasionally  during  the  past  century,  but  the 
English  and  American  representatives  visiting  Tran¬ 
sylvania  in  1919  and  1920,  because  of  the  ruin  which 
followed  the  war,  did  a  work  conspicuously  important. 
The  Commission  sent  in  1922  sought  to  carry  forward 
the  work  of  sustentation  which  they  began. 


FOREWORD 


The  members  of  this  Commission  were  Rev.  Louis  C. 
Cornish,  D.D.  of  Boston,  Rev.  Palfrey  Perkins  of 
Weston,  Rev.  Harold  E.  B.  Speight  of  Boston  and 
Rev.  Lawrence  Redfern  of  Liverpool,  England. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  accompanying  reports  and 
account  of  the  visit,  fragmentary  as  they  are,  may 
serve  to  give  an  impression  of  the  absolutely  chaotic 
conditions  in  which  our  fellow-Unitarians  and  thousands 
of  others  are  now  living. 

The  Commission  was  not  concerned  on  the  one  hand 
with  the  severe  Roumanian  criticism  of  former  Hun¬ 
garian  rule  and  its  alleged  injustice  to  minority  rights. 
Even  if  it  was  as  bad  as  it  is  reported  to  have  been, 
which  may  be  doubted,  retaliation  will  never  establish 
stable  conditions.  Two  wrongs  cannot  make  a  right. 
On  the  other  hand,  we  were  not  concerned  with  the 
irredentist  aspirations  of  the  Hungarians.  Natural 
though  these  may  be,  they  cannot  establish  stable  con¬ 
ditions.  Stability  of  life  and  freedom  for  all  peoples  in 
Transylvania  depend  upon  the  establishment  of  a  just 
modus  vivendi  under  the  provisions  of  the  Trianon 
Treaty  safeguarding  minority  rights,  and  the  en¬ 
lightened  opinion  of  the  world  demands  that  Roumania 
keep  both  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  the  Treaty. 

The  book  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Cornish  with  the 
advice  and  assistance  of  the  other  members  of  the 
Commission. 


vi 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

Foreword .  v 

I.  A  Summary  of  the  Condition  of  Individuals  and 

Institutions  in  Transylvania .  i 


II.  A  Statement  Concerning  the  Condition  of 
Unitarians  in  Old  Hungary,  Particularly 
in  Budapest  .  15 

III.  An  Account  of  the  Visit  of  this  Commission  to 
the  Schools,  Colleges,  and  Fifty  of  the 
Unitarian  Churches  in  Transylvania  ...  17 

IV.  A  Report  on  the  Colleges  and  Schools  of 

Transylvania .  129 

V.  The  Report  of  the  Consistory  to  the  Com¬ 

mission  .  136 

VI.  The  Order  of  the  Roumanian  Government  Re¬ 
ducing  the  Number  of  Minority  Churches 
by  Twenty-five  per  cent,  and  the  Roumanian 
Order  Reducing  the  Number  of  Deaneries  .  148 

VII.  The  Report  of  Bishop  Jozan  and  Dr.  Csiki  and 
the  Presbytery  of  Budapest  Concerning 
Budapest,  Hungary.  The  Conditions  in 
Budapest  August  i,  1922 . 153 

VIII.  The  Proposed  Basis  of  Adjustment  to  be 
Submitted  by  All  the  Non-Greek-Catholic 
Churches  to  the  Roumanian  Government  .  160 

IX.  ‘‘The  Hungarian  Officials’  Question”  .  .  .  164 


I. 


A  SUMMARY  OF  THE  CONDITION  OF  INDI¬ 
VIDUALS  AND  INSTITUTIONS  IN 
TRANSYLVANIA 


The  Commission  sent  to  visit  the  Transylvanian 
churches  herewith  submits  its  report,  based  upon  a 
month’s  study  of  conditions,  and  the  testimony  of  many 
officials  of  the  Unitarian,  Presbyterian,  Lutheran  and 
Roman  Catholic  Churches,  as  well  as  of  other  promi¬ 
nent  and  trustworthy  individuals. 

At  the  outset  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  diffi¬ 
culties  inherent  in  the  transfer  of  Transylvania  from 
Hungarian  to  Roumanian  rule  are  felt  equally  by  the 
four  denominations,  comprising  all  the  churches  in 
Transylvania  except  the  Greek  Catholic.  The  suffer¬ 
ings  of  the  Unitarians  are  the  sufferings  of  all  denom¬ 
inations  other  than  the  Greek  Catholic.  There  is  no 
anti-Unitarian  or  anti-Presbyterian  feeling  as  such. 

The  Roumanian  government  has  for  the  most  part 
treated  Transylvania  as  a  conquered  territory,  and 
Roumanian  officials,  to  put  the  case  in  the  mildest  * 
possiole  way,  have  shown  an  entire  lack  of  either  under¬ 
standing  or  sympathy  with  the  institutions  of  the  ac¬ 
quired  province,  which,  taken  together,  represent  an 

[i] 


2 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

ancient  and  high  culture.  What  is  reported,  therefore, 
concerning  the  Unitarian  churches  could  be  duplicated 
of  the  other  non-Greek  churches,*  and  is  really  a  report 
upon  the  whole  condition  of  the  religious  minorities  in 
Transylvania. 

The  Commission  went  from  England  directly  to 
Bucharest,  the  capital  of  Roumania.  There  we  were 
courteously  received  by  several  high  government  offi¬ 
cials.  We  explained  to  them  that  our  mission  was  in 
no  way  political,  and  that  it  wholly  concerned  the 
welfare  of  our  churches  (together  with  that  of  the 
entire  minority),  as  guaranteed  under  the  Trianon 
Treaty. 

The  report  may  be  divided  into  two  fairly  distinct 
parts,  (1)  the  status  of  individuals  and  their  support; 
(2)  the  status  of  institutions  and  their  maintenance. 

(1) 

Conditions  have  decidedly  improved  in  matters  of 
individual  liberty.  It  will  be  remembered  that  after 
the  Roumanian  army  entered  Transylvania  there  were 
shocking  cases  of  abuse.  The  first  foreign  visitor  to 
reach  Kolozsvar  (1919)  was  the  Rev.  William  H. 
Drummond  of  London.  His  trip  was  attended  with 
very  real  personal  dangers  and  hardship.  The  word 
that  he  brought  out  to  England  and  to  the  United 
States  arrested  instant  attention  among  the  sister  de- 

*The  Greek  Orthodox  and  Greek  Catholic  (Uniate)  churches,  very 
similar  in  ceremonial  and  doctrine,  are  for  the  reader’s  convenience  alluded 
to  as  the  Greek  churches. 


[2] 


INDIVIDUALS  AND  INSTITUTIONS 


nominations  in  England,  Scotland  and  America.  One 
chief  result  was  the  immediate  sending  of  a  unit  from 
the  American  Unitarian  churches  to  the  Transylvanian 
churches  (1920),  the  Rev.  Sydney  B.  Snow,  the  Rev. 
Joel  H.  Metcalf,  D.D.  and  Mr.  Edward  B.  Witte.  The 
report  of  the  Unit  confirmed  and  elaborated  the  state¬ 
ments  of  Mr.  Drummond.  Men  and  women  had  been 
beaten,  had  been  imprisoned  for  long  periods  without 
trial;  there  was  a  general  breakdown  of  the  fabric  of 
Transylvanian  life.  Although  often  denied,  the  in¬ 
stances  of  personal  abuse  of  Transylvanian  people  by 
Roumanian  soldiers  and  civilians  are  established  as 
facts  beyond  the  slightest  possibility  of  disproval,  and 
must  forever  be  a  source  of  shame  to  every  enlightened 
Roumanian.  These  conditions  are  recalled  simply  that 
the  contrast  with  existing  conditions  may  be  the  better 
understood.  On  every  side  we  were  told  that  the  physi¬ 
cal  abuses  had  practically  ceased.  Here  and  there  some 
petty  official  may  misuse  his  authority,  but  it  is  the  uni¬ 
versal  testimony  that  the  reign  of  terror  is  at  an  end. 
This  is  a  great  gain;  it  must  be  clearly  understood  that 
the  change  is  almost  that  of  passing  from  war  into  peace. 
We  wish  to  give  full  credit  for  this  great  relief  that  has 
come  to  all  the  Transylvanian  people  since  the  reports 
of  Mr.  Drummond  and  the  American  Unit  were  pub¬ 
lished. 

It  must  not  be  imagined,  however,  that  the  ending 
of  personal  abuse  has  brought  a  return  of  pre-war  con¬ 
ditions.  The  main  pursuit  of  people  in  Transylvania 
is  agriculture.  This  chief  industry  has  been  greatly 

[3] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

affected  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  large  estates  of  the 
nobles,  their  re-allotment,  the  uncertainty  of  legal 
procedure  and  many  minor  changes.  The  town  indus¬ 
tries  in  like  manner  have  been  greatly  altered.  The 
changes  in  Cluj-Kolozsvar,  a  city  of  60,000  people  be¬ 
fore  the  transfer  of  government,  may  be  taken  as  an 
illustration:  about  20,000  Roumanians  were  brought 
here  and  settled  in  houses  of  Transylvanian  people  as 
a  way  of  Roumanianizing  the  community.  These 
20,000  Roumanians  must  live.  The  dislocation  of  city 
conditions  that  followed  can  be  readily  understood. 
Again,  a  university  of  high  standing,  founded  by  Uni¬ 
tarians,  and  long  supported  by  the  Hungarian  govern¬ 
ment,  occupied  excellent  buildings  at  Kolozsvar.  These 
buildings  were  taken  by  the  Roumanian  government. 
The  faculty,  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
before  the  Peace  Treaty  was  ratified,  withdrew  to 
Szeged  in  Old  Hungary  where  they  started  a  new  uni¬ 
versity.  Roumanian  professors  were  put  in  their 
places,  and  practically  all  instruction  is  given  in  Rou¬ 
manian.  The  Roumanian  language  is  unknown  to 
most  Hungarian  people,  and  whatever  may  be  the 
fiction  of  free  admission  for  all,  the  fact  is  that  none  but 
Roumanian  students  find  it  practicable  to  attend  the 
university.  The  former  student  body  has  entirely  dis¬ 
appeared.  Transylvanian  students,  to  the  number  of 
nearly  2000,  are  studying  in  Budapest  and  Szeged,  and 
are  often  in  great  need.  Because  of  the  eviction  from 
their  homes,  because  of  terror  of  the  lately  existing 
conditions,  because  of  the  patriotic  and  passionate  love 

[4] 


INDIVIDUALS  AND  INSTITUTIONS 


of  Old  Hungary,  and  for  many  other  reasons,  thousands 
of  Hungarians  left  Transylvania  after  the  Roumanian 
occupation,  and  as  best  they  can  are  making  new  homes 
for  themselves  in  Hungary.  In  Budapest  alone  it  is 
alleged  there  are  now  5000  refugee  Unitarians,  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  those  formerly  resident  in  the  city,  not  to 
mention  refugees  of  other  affiliations. 

To  summarize  this  part  of  our  statement,  conditions, 
while  free  from  personal  abuse,  are  tragically  hard  for 
thousands  of  individuals.  Their  former  occupations 
have  either  been  lost,  or  have  so  altered  as  to  entail 
great  suffering. 

In  very  brief  detail,  these  conditions  again  may  be 
summarized.  Since  Transylvania  is  largely  a  farming 
country,  we  are  led  to  believe  that  in  the  villages  there 
is  no  serious  shortage  of  food,  and  food  is  also  fairly 
abundant  in  the  towns  and  cities.  We  saw  no  cases  of 
under-nourishment,  and  the  many  stories  of  hardship 
related  to  us  seldom  included  the  lack  of  food.  Clothing 
is  a  far  more  difficult  matter.  Again,  it  is  harder  for  the 
people  in  the  towns  and  cities  than  for  those  in  the 
villages,  where  there  is  still  much  spinning  and  weaving. 
Housing  in  the  towns,  and  particularly  in  the  cities,  is 
a  very  complex  and  aggravated  problem.  Many  dwell¬ 
ings  have  been  commandeered  and  given  to  Rou¬ 
manians.  In  Kolozsvar,  the  rooms  of  all  the  houses  are 
carefully  counted,  and  only  a  limited  space  allowed  to 
each  family.  It  will  be  seen  that  life  under  present 
conditions  is  very  different  from  the  life  of  these 
Transylvanian  people  prior  to  the  war. 

[5] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 


It  was  the  universal  testimony  that  the  ancient  insti¬ 
tutions,  Transylvanian  schools,  colleges,  churches,  other 
than  the  Roumanian,  were  never  in  greater  peril  than 
they  are  at  the  present  moment.  Either  the  Roumanian 
government  is  blind  to  the  possibilities  of  allowing 
several  kinds  of  cultural  life  to  exist  in  the  same  State, 
and  so  is  stupidly  beginning  to  crush  out  the  ancient 
institutions  which  long  have  nourished  a  high  civiliza¬ 
tion,  or  —  as  is  alleged  —  it  deliberately  intends  to 
crush  these  institutions,  in  the  hope  that  the 
more  intelligent  Hungarian  people  will  leave  Tran¬ 
sylvania,  and  its  complete  occupation  by  Rouma¬ 
nians  can  then  be  more  readily  brought  to  pass.  As 
an  illustration  of  the  intense  feeling,  a  Roumanian 
officer  was  told  that  the  coercion  and  suppression  of 
schools  and  other  institutions  would  result  in  noth¬ 
ing  less  than  the  ruin  of  Transylvania.  He  is  said 
to  have  replied,  “Better  a  ruined  province  which 
the  Roumanians  own  than  a  prosperous  one  owned 
by  others.” 

Your  Commission  is  not  sufficiently  informed  to 
decide  whether  the  Roumanian  policy  is  due  to  ig¬ 
norance  or  to  deliberate  intention.  It  may  be  ques¬ 
tioned  whether  anyone  could  give  a  definite  answer. 
Your  Commission  inclines  to  the  opinion  that  the 
Roumanian  government  in  the  main  is  ignorant,  and 
proceeds  by  methods  long  since  held  in  disrepute  in 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  Little  more  than 


\ 


[6] 


INDIVIDUALS  AND  INSTITUTIONS 


half  a  century  ago  Roumania  was  a  province  of  Turkey.* 
Roumanian  ideals,  legal  practices,  etc.,  are  still  deeply 
influenced  by  Oriental  traditions.  The  Transylvanian 
institutions  are  by  contrast  Occidental.  There  is  here 
an  inevitable  conflict  in  methods  and  in  the  conceptions 
out  of  which  the  methods  have  grown. 

It  is  hoped  that  these  comments  will  make  clear  the 
present  peril  of  the  institutional  life  of  the  four  de¬ 
nominations  named.  These  institutions  both  express 
and  nourish  an  ancient  civilization.  The  present  cur¬ 
tailment  of  their  activities  and  influence,  if  persisted  in, 
must  inevitably  strangle  the  life  which  these  institutions 
perpetuate. 

Proceeding  now  to  the  details.  The  Roumanian 
government  after  a  delay  of  two  years,  during  which 
the  clergy  received  no  governmental  payments,  has 
assumed  the  support  of  the  ministers  and  is  paying  their 
salaries.!  If  somewhat  irregular  in  the  times  when  the 
payments  are  made,  it  should  be  remembered  that  the 
Roumanian  government  is  facing  extraordinary  con¬ 
ditions  of  expansion,  and  together  with  all  the  govern¬ 
ments  of  that  part  of  Europe  has  more  than  once  been 
near  bankruptcy.  A  loan  from  Great  Britain  within 
the  last  six  months  is  said  to  have  saved  the  Roumanian 
State  from  actual  bankruptcy.  In  the  payment  of 

*  “  The  rise  of  the  Rumanian  nation  is  an  event  of  recent  times.  Turkish 
overlordship  continued  until  1829.  In  1878,  after  much  rival  influence 
exerted  by  both  Russia  and  France,  Rumanian  independence  was  finally 
acknowledged.”  See  “The  New  World”,  p.  280. 

f  For  an  explicit  statement,  see  the  Report  of  the  Consistory  attached, 
P- 137* 


[73 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

salaries  our  ministers  are  treated,  it  is  freely  stated,  as 
well  as  the  priests  of  the  Roumanian  Church. 

While  receiving  far  less  than  under  the  old  conditions, 
it  may  be  fairly  said  that  for  the  present  the  ministers 
with  some  exceptions  are  sufficiently  provided  for.  The 
exceptions  are  the  city  ministers,*  and  those  settled  in 
parishes  where  the  land  has  been  taken  away.  This 
support  of  ministers  however  is  threatened  with  cur¬ 
tailment.  The  Roumanian  government  has  issued  an 
order  which,  if  put  into  operation,  will  close  25 %  of  the 
minority  churches. | 

While  the  Roumanian  government  gives  support 
with  one  hand,  with  the  other  it  is  stripping  away  the 
endowments  of  the  churches,  schools  and  colleges. 
Formerly  every  parish  had  an  acreage  for  the  minister, 
and  also  for  the  school,  and  often  a  piece  of  forest  from 
which  the  wood  was  cut  and  sold  for  the  salaries  of  the 
minister  and  teacher.  The  high  schools,  college  and 
divinity  school,  and  consistory  with  its  offices,  were 
supported  also  from  endowments,  and  practically  all 
the  Transylvanian  endowments  were  in  land.  The 
Unitarians  had  in  endowments  about  7000  acres  of 
land,  of  which  5000  have  now  been  taken.  The 
Agrarian  Reform  is  an  exceedingly  complex  subject, 
on  which  much  technical  information  is  needed  before 
a  wise  judgment  can  be  made.  Few  would  deny  that 
some  measure  of  Agrarian  Reform  in  Transylvania  is 
necessary.  Upon  paper  the  new  law  proposes  to  give  to 
the  people  small  farms  cut  from  the  great  estates 

*See  p.  145.  fSee  p.  149. 

[8] 


INDIVIDUALS  AND  INSTITUTIONS 


formerly  held  by  the  nobles,  and  from  the  many  endow¬ 
ments  in  land  held  for  all  purposes.  The  actual  work¬ 
ing  of  the  Agrarian  Reform  is  a  very  different  matter. 
On  paper,  payment  is  required  to  the  former  owners, 
but  payment  is  made  on  the  valuation  of  1914,  and 
with  no  allowance  for  the  change  in  purchasing  power 
of  money.  Land  assessed  for  a  few  hundred  lei  per 
acre  in  1914  had  a  real  value;  to-day  a  few  hundred 
lei  represents  scarcely  any  value.  Therefore  the  effect 
of  paying  for  land  as  it  was  assessed  in  1914  in  the 
present  currency  amounts  to  confiscation.  On  paper, 
the  land  belonging  to  the  high  schools  and  the  colleges 
is  leased,  and  a  rental  is  supposed  to  be  paid.  But 
we  are  informed  that  the  four  denominations  named 
actually  received  no  rental  from  their  endowment  land 
which  had  been  subjected  to  forced  leases.  In  the 
few  instances  of  which  we  could  learn  where  a  rental 
had  been  paid,  it  amounted  to  from  20  to  70  lei  annu¬ 
ally  per  acre.* 

Aside  from  these  confusing  details,  a  certain  clear 
line  of  division  is  easily  seen.  If  the  Roumanian  gov¬ 
ernment  desires  reform,  why  should  it  apply  new 
agrarian  laws  ruthlessly  to  the  lands  supporting 
churches  and  educational  institutions,  which  were  at 
most  only  modestly  endowed,  and  never  presented  the 
problems  of  the  great  estates  of  the  nobles?  In  other 
countries  endowment  for  education  is  carefully  pre¬ 
served,  property  is  released  from  taxation,  etc.  Here 
we  have  the  spectacle  of  the  Roumanian  government 

*In  August,  1922,  40  lei  equaled  about  twenty-five  cents. 

[9] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

despoiling  the  very  institutions  which  it  is  at  the  same 
time  supporting. 

Time  out  of  mind,  the  churches  in  Transylvania  have 
had  their  own  schools.  These  are  now  being  closed  by 
the  Roumanian  government.* 

The  subject  is  fully  treated  in  another  part  of  this 
report,f  but  a  few  general  statements  must  be  kept 
in  mind  in  this  connection.  First,  no  persons  outside 
Transylvania  can  understand  the  importance  of  this 
issue.  We  are  constrained  to  accept  the  unanimous 
opinion  of  the  representatives  of  all  the  denominations 
named  that  their  schools  are  vital  and  absolutely  es¬ 
sential  to  the  life  of  the  people  other  than  Greek 
Catholics  in  Transylvania.  In  the  second  place,  the 
support  of  these  “ Confessional  schools”  was  explicitly 
guaranteed  in  the  conditions  of  the  Trianon  Treaty. 
In  the  third  place,  the  Roumanian  government  has 
given  no  support  whatever  to  primary  instruction, 
leaving  it  wholly  to  the  bounty  of  the  impoverished 
churches;  and  in  this  fails  in  a  plainly  stipulated 
responsibility. 

The  Roumanian  government  therefore  is  morally 
and  technically  bound  to  maintain  these  schools.  This 
obligation  is  part  of  its  agreement  with  the  Allies. 
Differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  continuance  of  Uni¬ 
tarian,  Presbyterian,  or  Lutheran,  or  Roman  Catholic 
schools,  or  other  Confessional  schools,  is  not  within 
the  province  of  any  but  the  denominational  authorities 
themselves.  The  right  of  the  Churches  to  conduct  their 

*See  p.  140.  fSee  Report  on  Schools  and  Colleges,  p.  129. 

[  IO] 


INDIVIDUALS  AND  INSTITUTIONS 


schools  is  one  of  the  minority  rights  guaranteed  by 
Roumania  under  the  Treaty.  If  the  Roumanian  gov¬ 
ernment  can  put  aside  the  plain  guarantee,  and  its  un¬ 
questioned  responsibility  concerning  the  schools,  then 
it  can  as  lightly  disregard  the  other  obligations  of  the 
Treaty.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  the  Roumanian 
government  should  have  a  reasonable  oversight  of  the 
schools,  but  it  should  not,  as  it  has  done  in  a  great 
number  of  places,  take  away  the  school-buildings  from 
the  churches  and  replace  the  teachers  long  employed 
with  Roumanian  teachers. 

Thus  far  this  statement  has  dealt  largely  with  the 
day  schools  found  in  every  parish.  Further  reference 
should  be  made  to  the  gymnasia  and  colleges.  These  are 
suffering  the  same  kind  of  treatment  as  the  day  schools. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  contention  concerns  the 
entire  educational  life  of  the  non-Roumanian  people  in 
Transylvania.  The  members  of  these  non-Greek- 
Catholic  denominations  are  believed  to  be  reasonably 
willing  to  adapt  the  curriculum  of  their  educational 
institutions  to  the  new  regime.  For  example,  the 
Roumanian  language  has  been  introduced  into  all  the 
upper  schools.  This  has  been  accepted  as  a  necessity. 
The  dispute  concerning  it  has  been  as  to  the  amount  of 
time  to  be  allowed  —  whether  one  year  or  five  years 
for  acquiring  the  language.  Similar  differences  as  to 
details  are  constantly  referred  to,  with  the  result  that 
the  main  issue  is  likely  to  become  obscured.  Educa¬ 
tional  institutions  of  any  civilization  at  once  express 
and  perpetuate  the  native  ethnical  development.  It  is 

[ii] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

alleged  that  this  is  exactly  the  crux  of  the  contest  be¬ 
tween  these  Confessional  schools  and  the  Roumanian 
State.  It  is  alleged  that  the  Roumanian  State  desires 
to  rob  these  schools  of  all  their  Hungarian  cultural 
values,  and  make  them  in  fact  identical  with  the  Rou¬ 
manian  schools,  which  are  of  less  academic  value,  to  the 
end  that  in  another  generation  the  Hungarian  culture 
shall  have  disappeared.  The  Commission  is  not  suffi¬ 
ciently  informed  to  express  an  intelligent  opinion  as  to 
whether  it  is  a  clash  in  the  habits  of  thought  of  two 
very  different  peoples,  and  a  lack  of  appreciation  of  the 
most  ordinarily  accepted  habits  of  thought  in  such 
countries  as  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  or 
whether  the  action  of  the  Roumanian  government 
against  the  schools  arises  from  deliberate  purpose. 
While  the  Commission  is  unable  to  determine  this 
point,  we  call  attention  as  strongly  as  we  are  able  to 
the  fact  that  the  Roumanian  government’s  treatment 
of  the  schools  and  colleges,  whether  inadvertent  or 
intended,  is  now  strangling,  and  if  continued  will  in  the 
end  obliterate,  the  Hungarian  culture. 

Two  further  comments  may  be  made  in  this  Report. 
We  heard  on  every  hand  of  the  sharp  and  constant 
clashing  between  the  Roumanians  who  have  long  lived 
in  Transylvania  and  the  many  new  arrivals  from  Old 
Roumania.  The  former,  because,  we  believe,  of  their 
Transylvanian  associations,  are  of  a  more  advanced 
type,  taken  as  a  whole,  than  are  the  newcomers  taken 
as  a  whole,  and  they  resent  their  harassment  by  the 
petty  officials  quite  as  vigorously  as  do  the  Hungarians. 

[12] 


INDIVIDUALS  AND  INSTITUTIONS 


At  a  recent  meeting  at  Cluj-Kolozsvar,  Mr.  Vajda, 
a  Roumanian,  and  formerly  the  Prime  Minister,  is 
reported  to  have  said,  “The  foundation  of  Roumanian 
culture  was  laid  in  Transylvania.  They  (the  present 
Roumanian  Administration)  wish  to  unite  us  with  the 
Kingdom  (of  Roumania),  and  they  have  dared  to  say 
we  have  no  (Transylvanian)  traditions.  It  is  a  sad 
farce  they  are  carrying  on  under  the  legal  form  of  uni¬ 
fication.  We  can  tolerate  this  no  longer,  for  their 
unification  means  to  separate  us,  who  at  heart,  in 
sentiment,  are  one,  and  whose  unity  has  been  safe¬ 
guarded  by  the  Trianon  Peace.”* 

Against  this  statement  should  stand  the  assurance 
of  Mr.  Constantine  Banu,  Minister  of  Cults  and  Arts, 
who  in  Bucharest  said  to  us  that  the  present  govern¬ 
ment  desires  only  the  real  pacification  and  prosperity 
of  Transylvania.  The  sharp  differences  of  opinion 
indicate  among  other  things  one  which  we  are  inclined 
to  believe  is  the  chief  root  of  all  difficulties,  the  fact 
that  the  opinion  and  even  the  orders  of  the  authorities 
in  Bucharest  apparently  have  only  a  slight  effect 
upon  the  policies  and  behavior  of  the  Roumanian 
rulers  of  Transylvania.  The  Roumanian  government 
appears  to  be  a  very  weak  and  heterogeneous  affair, 
in  which  minor  officials  pay  small  heed  to  any  well- 
considered  and  formulated  policy  at  the  capital.  Only 
by  the  strong  pressure  of  an  enlightened  public  opinion 
from  outside  Roumania  is  there  likely  to  be  improve¬ 
ment. 


*  “The  Hungarian  Nation,”  Nos.  3-5,  vol.  3,  May  1922,  p.  42. 

[13] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

In  conclusion,  we  desire  urgently  to  appeal  for  the 
pressure  of  such  enlightened  public  opinion  from  outside 
in  every  legitimate  way,  in  order  that  the  more  public- 
spirited  members  of  the  Roumanian  government  may 
find  their  position  strengthened  and  be  enabled  to  carry 
out  their  plans  for  improvement.  We  beg  also  for  the 
continued  support  during  the  period  of  readjustment 
of  the  sister  churches  of  all  denominations  upon 
which  the  very  existence  of  the  non-Greek  churches 
in  Transylvania  depends. 


[14] 


II. 

I 

A  STATEMENT  CONCERNING  THE  CONDI¬ 
TION  OF  UNITARIANS  IN  OLD  HUNGARY, 
PARTICULARLY  IN  BUDAPEST 


Before  the  war,  we  had  one  strong  Unitarian  church 
at  Budapest,  and  fifteen  smaller  churches.  Since  the 
Roumanian  occupation  large  numbers  of  Unitarian 
people  have  migrated  from  Transylvania  into  Old  Hun¬ 
gary.  A  new  church  has  been  founded  at  Debreczen, 
where  land  and  a  sum  of  money  have  been  donated.  At 
Szeged  a  new  university  has  been  founded,  which  is,  in 
fact,  the  university  that  formerly  existed  at  Cluj- 
Kolozsvar.  As  has  been  said,  the  faculty  of  the  Tran¬ 
sylvanian  University  removed  as  a  body  and  continues 
its  teachings  at  Szeged.*  Here  there  are  about  80  men, 
faculty  and  students,  and  a  Unitarian  church  has  been 
organized.  In  Budapest,  our  church  seats  only  250 
people;  f  and  there  are  to-day  6000  registered  Uni¬ 
tarians  in  the  city.  Probably  never  again  will  con¬ 
ditions  be  as  fluid  as  are  those  of  to-day.  Mr.  Josan, 
minister  of  the  Budapest  church,  and  under  the  Con¬ 
sistory  the  Suffragan  Bishop  of  the  Unitarian  churches 
in  Old  Hungary,  pleads  that  a  new  church  be  started 

*  See  p.  4.  f  See  p.  156. 


[15] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

in  Budapest  immediately.  With  his  wish  the  members 
of  this  Commission  most  earnestly  sympathize,  and 
we  recommend  the  consideration  of  the  need  to  the 
American  and  British  Unitarian  Associations.  All  of 
these  new  Unitarian  residents  in  Old  Hungary  are 
refugees,  and  are  experiencing  great  hardship  in  earning 
a  livelihood.  They  have  no  money  to  give  for  new 
churches,  but,  if  assisted,  they  would  give  great  de¬ 
votion.  They  are  very  intelligent,  and  many  of  them 
are  professional  people.  If  it  can  possibly  be  avoided, 
these  refugee  Unitarians  should  not  be  lost  to  the 
Unitarian  faith  and  institutions,  and  unless  they  can 
be  shepherded  into  new  churches,  inevitably  they  and 
their  children  will  drift  away  from  the  Unitarian  fold. 


[16] 


III. 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  VISIT  OF  THIS  COM¬ 
MISSION  TO  THE  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES,  AND 
FIFTY  OF  THE  UNITARIAN  CHURCHES  IN 
TRANSYLVANIA 


Rev.  Louis  C.  Cornish,  D.D.,  Rev.  Palfrey  Perkins  and 
Rev.  Harold  E.  B.  Speight,  representing  the  American 
Unitarian  churches,  and  Rev.  Lawrence  Redfern,  rep¬ 
resenting  the  British  Unitarian  churches,  arrived  in 
Bucharest,  July  14th,  and  remained  in  Transylvania 
until  August  3rd,  and  in  Budapest  until  August  8th. 
The  following  pages  present  a  brief  survey  of  their 
experiences,  which  form  the  basis  of  the  foregoing  re¬ 
port.  Individuals  are  spoken  of  by  their  initials. 

From  the  detailed  narrative  of  our  journey  we  pur¬ 
posely  omit  mention  of  the  conferences  about  existing 
conditions  held  everywhere.  Lack  of  space,  not  to 
mention  other  reasons,  makes  their  chronicling  im¬ 
possible. 

The  narrative  is  designed  to  show  the  basis  for  the 
Report,  rather  than  to  give  a  summary  of  the  evidence 
submitted,  and  to  present  a  picture  of  Transylvanian 
life,  especially  to  those  loyal  Unitarians  who  so  long 
and  generously  have  continued  to  aid  their  brethren. 

3  [17] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

We  were  met  at  the  station  in  Bucharest  by  Professor 
George  Boros,  D.D.*  representing  the  Transylvanian 
churches,  a  professor  in  the  Unitarian  Divinity  School 
at  Kolozsvar,  and  Chief  Secretary  of  the  Consistory. 
Dr.  Boros  had  secured  rooms  for  us  at  the  Hotel 
Metropole,  a  large,  centrally  placed  building  that  was 
in  process  of  renovation.  It  was  the  only  place  in  the 
crowded  city  where  lodgings  could  be  found. 

July  15th,  Saturday  morning.  We  went  to  the 
American  Consulate  and  presented  our  passports.  We 
met  the  Vice-Consul,  an  intelligent  Westerner,  who 
recommended  our  trying  to  secure  rooms  in  a  private 
house.  After  luncheon  P.  P.  and  L.  C.  drove  to  25 
Cobalcescu,  one  of  the  best  residence  streets.  The 
house  was  a  large  cement  structure.  With  difficulty  we 
roused  the  servants  and  talked  to  the  owner,  M. 
Boerescu,  and  finally  prevailed  upon  him  to  take  us  as 
lodgers  for  a  few  days.  We  were  given  two  large  rooms 
and  moved  from  the  hotel.  Dr.  Boros  and  L.  C.  took 
one  room,  the  three  others  a  larger  room,  where  we 
rested  during  the  heat  of  the  day.  In  the  evening  we 
drove  out  through  the  Corso  thronged  with  automo¬ 
biles  and  carriages,  past  the  Arc  de  Triomphe  f  to  a 
garden  restaurant,  Chateaubriand.  The  garden  was 
filled  with  small  tables  under  the  trees,  and  an  excellent 
orchestra  was  playing  Roumanian  music.  We  dined 
very  slowly  and  listened  to  the  music,  talking  to  our 

*  Honorary  degree  from  Harvard  University  in  1900. 

j*  Being  built  to  celebrate  the  coronation  of  the  King,  planned  for  Sep¬ 
tember  19,  1922,  and  to  take  place  in  Transylvania. 

[18] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

host  in  French.  Dr.  Boros  and  M.  Boerescu  were 
entirely  courteous,  as  might  have  been  expected,  but  it 
was  apparent  that  they  had  recently  been  enemies  in 
arms.  Dr.  Boros  and  L.  C.  returned  before  the  others, 
who  attended  a  concert  in  another  garden. 

July  1 6th,  Sunday.  The  heat  was  intense.  Dr.  Boros 
preached  in  the  Reformed  Church.  H.  S.  went  with 
him.  With  M.  Boerescu,  P.  P.,  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  visited 
two  of  the  large  city  churches.  In  one  we  attended  a 
requiem  mass,  upon  the  first  anniversary  of  the  death 
of  a  former  parishioner. 

There  are  no  pews  in  the  Greek  churches.  A  few 
persons  sat  around  the  sides,  in  stalls,  holding  lighted 
candles.  The  doors  in  the  rood  screen  were  open.  In 
the  middle  of  the  nave  was  a  table  covered  with  flowers. 
At  this  table  a  priest,  with  two  attendants,  all  in  rich 
vestments,  said  the  offices  while  members  of  the  be¬ 
reaved  family  stood  around  him.  After  the  service  we 
were  presented  to  the  chief  priest  of  the  church,  who 
kindly  showed  us  the  relics,  communion  plate  and  vest¬ 
ments.  These  were  kept  in  safes  in  the  chancel. 

In  the  second  church  visited,  very  ancient  and  belong¬ 
ing  to  the  Metropolitan  Bishop,  we  were  shown  the 
body  of  St.  Dimitri,  contained  in  a  wonderful  silver 
basket.  The  bones  were  covered  with  rich  embroideries, 
only  one  blackened  hand  visible,  which  the  devout  are 
allowed  to  kiss.  The  saint  died  about  250  years  ago. 
Carried  in  solemn  procession  through  the  countryside, 
these  relics  are  supposed  to  bring  rain  in  times  of 
drought. 


[19] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

July  17th,  Monday.  In  the  morning  we  called  upon 
Mr.  Jay,  the  American  Minister,  a  pleasant  and  friendly 
gentleman,  who  met  us  cordially.  We  explained  the 
purpose  of  our  visit,  that  our  delegation  was  one  in  a 
long  series  extending  back  through  many  decades,  and 
that  our  purpose  was  wholly  religious  and  not  in  any 
sense  political.  Mr.  Jay  was  interested,  and  advised 
our  calling  upon  the  different  Roumanian  Ministries. 
He  reminded  us  that  as  the  United  States  was  not  a 
party  to  the  Treaty,  he  would  be  powerless  to  interfere, 
no  matter  how  the  minorities  were  treated.  The  British 
Minister  was  absent  from  Bucharest.  While  talking 
with  Mr.  Jay,  the  Rev.  Henry  Atkinson,  D.  D.,  Secre¬ 
tary  of  the  World  Peace  Alliance,  arrived.  We  continued 
our  talk  with  him.  Later  P.  P.  and  L.  C.  lunched  with 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Atkinson  at  their  hotel,  and  had  a  long 
conference  about  the  situation  in  the  Balkans.  H.  S. 
and  Dr.  Boros  left  in  the  afternoon  for  Brasso.  L.  R., 
P.  P.  and  L.  C.  remained  behind  to  make  certain  calls 
with  Dr.  Atkinson. 

It  should  be  said  here  that  the  train  service  had 
broken  down.  A  bridge  having  fallen  a  few  days  before, 
the  trains  could  go  only  as  far  as  the  river  at  Cryova, 
where  the  passengers  had  to  transfer  over  a  tem¬ 
porary  bridge  to  another  train.  Utter  confusion 
reigned  at  this  place,  men  and  women  were  robbed, 
and  sometimes  pushed  off  the  bridge  into  the  river. 
Altogether,  it  was  a  very  trying  experience  for  H.  S. 
and  Dr.  Boros. 

In  the  evening  we  dined  at  Capsa’s  restaurant,  where 

[20] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

we  met  the  American  Secretary  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  who 
talked  with  us  about  conditions  in  Bucharest. 

July  1 8th,  Tuesday.  Together  with  Dr.  Atkinson, 
L.  R.,  F.  P.  and  L.  C.  drove  first  to  the  Ministere  des 
Etrangers.  We  were  met  by  the  Assistant  Secretary, 
who  spoke  English,  and  was  formerly  attached  to  the 
Roumanian  Legation  in  Washington.  He  was  fairly 
cordial,  begged  us  to  beware  of  news  from  Budapest, 
listened  with  courtesy  to  the  purposes  of  our  visit,  spoke 
of  his  experience  in  the  United  States,  and  then  ar¬ 
ranged  by  telephone  for  us  to  have  an  interview  with 
the  Minister  of  Cults  and  Arts,  Mr.  Constantine  Banu. 

We  drove  across  the  city  to  another  Ministry,  and 
were  immediately  allowed  to  see  Mr.  Banu,  a  tall,  dark 
man  with  a  long  beard.  He  spoke  French,  but  no 
English.  His  interpreter  was  Mr.  Ispiri,  once  a  grad¬ 
uate  student  at  Manchester  and  Exeter  Colleges, 
Oxford.  Dr.  Atkinson  conducted  the  first  part  of  the 
conversation,  explaining  the  purpose  of  our  visit,  and 
saying  that  we  hoped  to  report  improved  conditions  to 
the  several  Protestant  bodies  in  the  United  States 
which  had  sister  churches  in  Transylvania.  Mr.  Banu 
expressed  cordial  approval  of  our  coming.  Indeed,  he 
said  it  was  fortunate  that  we  had  arrived  at  this  time, 
as  a  new  constitution  was  being  drafted,  and  would  be 
presented  to  the  Roumanian  Parliament  in  a  pre¬ 
liminary  form  in  October.  He  asked  if  we  would  make 
suggestions  on  the  points  in  which  we  were  interested 
for  the  new  constitution,  which  would,  he  said,  safe¬ 
guard  the  rights  of  all  religious  bodies.  We  explained 

[21  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 


that  he  did  us  too  great  an  honor.  If  he  really  wished 
opinions  of  legal  worth  from  the  United  States,  we 
could  obtain  them  for  him  and  would  willingly  do  so, 
but  we  were  primarily  interested  in  the  carrying  out  of 
the  terms  of  the  Treaty,  particularly  those  provisions 
safeguarding  religious  freedom.  Dr.  Atkinson  asked 
about  the  schools.  Mr.  Banu  excused  himself  from 
answering,  as  the  schools  were  not  in  his  department. 
Dr.  Atkinson  asked  if  the  ministers  were  being  sup¬ 
ported  by  the  State  as  provided  in  the  Treaty.  Mr. 
Banu  replied  that  they  were,  “in  proportion/’  He 
meant  that  they  were  supported  equally  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  adherents  and  priests.  Mr.  Banu 
stated  that  he  himself  had  seen  Bishop  Ferencz  a  few 
weeks  before,  and  that  the  Bishop  on  this  point  had 
made  no  complaint.  If  we  had  grievances,  comments 
or  even  advice  to  offer  after  our  visit,  he  would  welcome 
them.  His  secretary  explained  to  us  that  there  were 
very  many  difficulties  to  be  overcome  in  the  way  of 
adjustments,  but  that  the  government’s  aim  was  to  do 
everything  consistent  with  the  principles  of  “honor, 
justice  and  freedom.”  Less  than  this  wTould  touch  the 
“honor”  of  Roumania.  We  were  shown  penciled  esti¬ 
mates  proving  the  support  of  the  ministers,  and  it  was 
promised  that  an  exact  statement  would  be  submitted  to 
Dr.  Atkinson.*  Dr.  Atkinson  asked  whether  it  was  not 
true  that  former  Hungarian  leaders  had  been,  and  were 
now  being,  treated  harshly.  Mr.  Banu  replied  “No.” 


*  Dr.  Atkinson  told  us  later  in  Kolozsvar  that  he  had  received  the 
statement. 


[22] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

To  our  regret  the  land  question  was  not  discussed. 
It  was  mentioned,  but  it  was  not  in  Mr.  Banu’s  depart¬ 
ment. 

The  interview  lasted  about  an  hour  and  a  half,  with 
many  people  waiting  outside  the  door,  who  stared  at  us 
indignantly  as  we  left. 

We  next  tried  to  see  the  Minister  of  Education,  but 
he  was  away.  We  then  called  upon  the  Metropolitan. 
He  also  was  out  of  town. 

We  lunched  at  Capsa’s.  Because  of  the  trouble  on  the 
railroad,  we  secured  an  automobile  and  left  Bucharest 
at  2:30,  having  experienced  such  heat  as  none  of  us  ever 
had  felt  before.  It  was  a  very  exhausting  visit. 

Our  route  for  the  first  two  hours  lay  over  parched  and 
dusty  roads.  In  the  distance,  straight  across  the  plains, 
rose  the  Carpathians,  in  varied  colors  of  brown  and 
purple  and  gray. 

Near  Ploesti  we  witnessed  a  Roumanian  funeral  pro¬ 
cession  approaching  a  church.  There  was  a  hearse  with 
plumes  and  banners  and  a  crowd  of  peasants  following. 
A  very  crude  band  played  dismally.  We  were  quite 
ignorant  of  the  character  of  the  deceased,  but  judged  it 
to  be  a  military  occasion.  Further  along,  we  saw  the 
oil  fields  on  the  edge  of  the  territory  between  old  Rou- 
mania  and  Transylvania.  As  we  approached,  many 
tall  chimneys  became  visible.  In  one  small  vista  we 
counted  fifty  rising  from  the  plain,  with  the  mountain 
ranges  behind  them,  very  picturesque.  These  oil  fields 
probably  are  as  hotly  contested  property  as  could  be 
found  in  the  world.  Many  of  the  buildings,  belonging 

[23] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

to  English  and  American  companies,  were  very  trim 
and  clean-looking. 

We  climbed  slowly  from  the  edge  of  the  Carpathians 
to  the  mountain  resort  of  Sinaia,  through  as  beautiful 
scenery  as  could  be  imagined.  Long  new  vistas  of  the 
mountains  unrolled  at  every  turn.  Fertile  valleys 
stretched  below  us  with  little  roads  winding  up  and 
round  the  hillsides.  At  Sinaia  the  King  and  Court 
have  summer  palaces.  We  took  tea  in  the  hotel  garden. 
The  whole  feeling  was  that  of  Switzerland.  The  hotel 
was  very  large  and  clean.  Well-dressed  people  were 
promenading.  A  good  orchestra  played  in  the  garden 
where  the  many  guests  sat  at  tea.  According  to 
national  custom,  we  drank  ours  with  rum.  After  half 
an  hour’s  rest,  we  climbed  slowly  up  to  the  highest 
town,  Predeal.  The  descent  was  more  rapid,  but  quite 
as  beautiful.  The  drive  was  one  of  the  most  memorable 
any  of  us  had  ever  taken. 

Of  great  interest  to  us  were  the  evidences  of  ruin 
along  the  road.  The  region  had  been  fought  over  sev¬ 
eral  times.  The  Germans  destroyed  bridges  in  their  re¬ 
treat,  and  we  crossed  the  streams  on  temporary  wooden 
structures.  Many  houses  still  occupied  were  spotted 
with  shell  marks.  Others  were  seriously  damaged,  the 
roofs  broken,  the  windows  torn  out,  the  walls  partly 
fallen  in.  In  places  the  houses  had  been  completely 
demolished.  Only  the  crumbled  ruins  showed  where 
they  had  stood.  We  passed  two  soldiers’  cemeteries 
close  together,  one  Roumanian,  the  other  German,  with 
little  wooden  crosses  stretching  in  long  rows  over  the  ill- 

C^4] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

kept  fields.  The  desolation  and  destructiveness  of  these 
past  years  were  tragically  symbolized  in  these  ruins. 

The  beauty  of  the  descent  through  the  Carpathians 
grew  dim  as  night  came  on,  and  the  last  part  of  our  ride 
was  in  darkness.  At  ten  o’clock  we  finally  arrived  at 
Brasso,  a  considerable  town,  better  known  on  the  maps 
as  Kronstadt.  Here  our  church  is  comparatively  new. 
Before  the  war  plans  were  made  for  a  building.  The 
confirmed  church  membership  is  about  750  persons. 

We  went  first  to  the  house  of  the  minister,  Mr. 
Kovacs,  and  found  that  he  and  his  committee  were 
waiting  for  us  at  the  chief  hotel.  There  we  discovered 
that  we  could  not  be  accommodated.  M.  Boerescu,  our 
host  in  Bucharest,  had  accompanied  us  as  far  as  Brasso, 
where  his  wife  and  children  were  spending  their  holiday. 
He  was  of  very  great  assistance.  None  of  our  hosts 
spoke  English  or  French.  Dr.  Boros  departed  to  try 
to  make  arrangements,  and  L.  R.,  P.  P.  and  L.  C.  sat 
at  a  long  table  with  perhaps  a  dozen  gentlemen  of  the 
Committee,  and  could  speak  no  word  to  them.  We  had 
dined  at  one  o’clock,  were  tired  from  our  journey,  and 
greatly  desired  food.  All  that  was  brought  us  was 
coffee  and  cakes.  An  amusing  incident  followed. 
P.  P.  asked  for  eggs  in  every  language  known  to  him. 
Finally  he  drew  pictures  of  eggs  on  the  bill  of  fare,  and 
as  a  concluding  indication  of  our  needs,  stood  up, 
flapped  his  arms  and  crowed.  His  efforts  were  received 
with  marked  appreciation,  everyone  smiled  and  nodded. 
In  a  few  minutes  they  brought  him  a  raspberry  ice! 

Finally,  thanks  to  Dr.  Boros’s  return,  we  obtained 

[25] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

food  about  eleven  o’clock.  Dr.  Boros  and  H.  S.  secured 
a  room  at  this  hotel,  and  P.  P.,  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  drove 
to  another  part  of  the  city,  to  the  White  Horse  Inn, 
opposite  the  railroad  station,  where  they  passed  a  fairly 
comfortable  night,  in  spite  of  its  being  one  of  the  most 
miserable  inns  that  they  had  ever  seen. 

Our  narrative  now  returns  to  Bucharest  to  record  the 
trips  taken  by  H.  S.  and  Dr.  Boros. 

On  Monday  afternoon,  July  17,  Dr.  Boros  and  H.  S. 
left  Bucharest  for  Brasso,  with  difficulty  securing  seats 
in  a  very  crowded  train  after  waiting  two  hours  at  the 
station.  An  intensely  hot  run  of  about  three  hours 
from  Bucharest  brought  them  to  a  place  where  a  seri¬ 
ous  accident  had  recently  occurred.  Passengers  had  to 
alight,  cross  an  improvised  bridge  and  take  a  waiting 
train;  but  that  sounds  simpler  than  it  was!  The  scene 
was  one  of  great  confusion.  Porters  finally  secured  to 
carry  baggage  had  to  be  closely  watched,  and  an  elderly 
lady,  half  hysterical,  needed  assistance.  The  north¬ 
ward  stream  of  passengers  was  met  by  a  similar  rush  of 
southbound  travelers,  many  of  them  rough  soldiers 
who  jostled  and  pushed  their  way  utterly  oblivious  to 
the  presence  of  women  and  children.  In  the  confusion 
prevailing  on  the  waiting  train  Dr.  Boros  was  cleverly 
robbed  of  his  pocketbook  containing  valuables. 

Brasso  was  reached  at  1 1  p.m.  It  was  midnight  when 
passers-by  gave  the  travelers  a  lift  from  the  station  to 
the  town.  The  local  minister,  Mr.  Kovacs,  and  his 
large  family  were  sound  asleep,  but  eventually  the 
friendly  parson  led  the  way  to  a  hotel  where  beds  were 

[26] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

provided  on  condition  that  the  room  be  vacated  by 
seven  o’clock  next  morning.  This  did  not  prove  to  be 
inconvenient,  because  a  visitation  of  the  district  planned 
for  the  morrow  involved  catching  a  train  at  7:15! 

On  Tuesday  morning  a  start  was  made  without  break¬ 
fast  for  Sepsiszentgyorgy,*  reached  after  a  ride  of  an 
hour  and  a  half  in  a  slow,  dirty,  full  train.  It  is  a  small 
town  in  the  midst  of  a  rich  agricultural  region  which  is 
partly  a  flat  plain,  and  partly  broken  by  little  wooded 
hills.  Cultivation  is  intensive,  and  this  year  the  crops 
are  fortunately  good.  We  have  now  no  church  building 
here.  One  in  the  possession  of  Unitarians  for  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  years  was  taken  away  long  ago  and  is 
to-day  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  Our  congregation 
worships  in  the  Reformed  Church.  This  congregation 
is  the  sister  church  of  the  Church  of  the  Saviour, 
Brooklyn.  The  minister,  Joszef  Lajos,  is  Dean  of  the 
district.  He  has  a  pleasant  house,  but  this  is  possible 
only  because  of  a  relative’s  generosity.  Dean  Lajos  was 
in  great  trouble,  having  that  morning  received  orders 
to  appear  in  a  distant  town,  with  eleven  other  persons, 
before  a  military  tribunal  to  answer  to  charges  arising 
out  of  an  incident  at  the  welcome  extended  in  Sepsi¬ 
szentgyorgy  to  the  Unitarian  Relief  Unit  in  1920. 
Once  before  the  twelve  men,  including  two  Unitarian 
ministers,  three  Reformed  Church  ministers,  a  Roman 
Catholic  priest,  and  several  laymen  were  summoned 

*  The  names  of  towns  will  be  better  understood  if  it  is  remembered  that 
the  prefixes  such  as  Sepsi,  Homorod,  and  Szelsely,  refer  to  the  several 
districts.  These  prefixes  are  used  much  as  the  names  of  States  are  used  in 
America. 


[27] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

to  appear,  but  because  one  was  missing  all  were  dis¬ 
missed  and  left  to  bear  the  expense  and  inconvenience 
as  best  they  could.  It  was  our  privilege  and  endeavor 
to  carry  some  comfort  to  the  distressed  minister. 

Visits  were  made  to  several  parishes  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood,  a  low  carriage  of  the  victoria  type,  drawn 
by  two  ponies,  being  hired  for  the  day.  The  dust  was 
dreadful  on  the  roads  throughout  the  trip,  and  it  was 
necessary  to  secure  soap  and  water  at  each  parsonage 
visited. 

Eight  kilometers  brought  us  to  Kalnok.  The  sister 
church  is  in  Springfield,  Mass.  Three  hundred  souls,  that 
is,  most  of  the  village,  belong  to  the  congregation.  In  the 
school  there  are  sixty-eight  children,  mostly  Unitarians, 
taught  by  one  Unitarian  and  one  Presbyterian  teacher. 
Istvan  Biro,  the  minister  here, lives  as  a  bachelor  in  two 
very  small  rooms,  the  rest  of  the  parsonage  now  being 
used  for  the  school.  There  is  a  site  for  a  new  denomi¬ 
national  school,  and  lumber  is  available  locally.  The 
quaint  little  church  was  of  a  type  common  in  the  south¬ 
ern  part  of  the  country,  a  notable  feature  being  that 
the  belltower  is  not  built  upon  the  church,  but  rests 
upon  the  ground  close  by,  a  structure  of  timbers,  ap¬ 
pearing  at  first  very  curiously  out  of  place. 

Two  or  three  kilometers  in  the  return  direction  led 
the  party  to  Sepsikorispatak  (adopted  by  our  church  at 
Rochester,  New  York),  where  the  minister,  Kelemen 
Szekely,  was  away  from  home.  As  is  commonly  the 
case,  the  minister  here  manages  a  farm  and  raises  part 
of  his  own  income  in  that  way.  The  Dean  examined 

[28] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

his  record  books  and  papers  and  the  apparent  state  of 
neglect  seemed  to  call  for  discipline,  which  would  be 
undertaken  later  by  the  Dean.  The  question  was 
raised  in  our  minds  how  some  of  our  ministers  at  home 
would  like  to  have  one  of  their  senior  brethren  examine 
their  records  and  papers  in  their  absence!  The  church 
here  stands  upon  a  hill  surrounded  by  interesting  old 
gravestones;  among  modern  monuments  was  one  to 
the  memory  of  a  former  minister  who  was  greatly 
loved,  but  who  died  as  a  young  man.  In  the  neigh¬ 
boring  village  a  member  of  the  nobility  is  Roman 
Catholic  and  a  strong  opponent  of  the  Unitarian 
activities.  Our  school  here  has  thirty-six  scholars  and 
one  teacher. 

A  few  kilometers  further  was  the  village  of  Arkos, 
where  we  have  a  good  church  and  an  active  minister, 
Benjamin  Wegh.  Lunch  was  served  at  the  parsonage, 
the  local  teacher  and  others  joining  the  party.  Two 
rooms  in  the  parsonage,  each  one  about  17  x  12  feet, 
are  used  for  the  school  to  accommodate  about  ninety 
scholars.  A  sewing  machine  for  the  girls  and  a  few 
wood-carving  tools  for  the  boys  were  noticed:  it 
was  especially  interesting  to  see  the  instruments  used 
by  a  small  orchestra.  A  young  man  in  the  village 
makes  quite  good  violins,  though  he  taught  himself  the 
art  by  studying  violins  shown  him  by  wandering  gyp¬ 
sies.  The  old  school  was  originally  the  property  of  the 
church,  but  was  contracted  to  the  Hungarian  govern¬ 
ment  on  certain  conditions.  The  Roumanian  gov¬ 
ernment  has  taken  it  over  but  ignores  the  conditions. 

[29] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

As  the  State  School  it  now  houses  eight  scholars  who 
are  taught  by  four  teachers!  Around  the  church  are 
high  fortress  walls  several  centuries  old.  As  the  party 
entered  the  building,  the  teacher  (who  as  always  is  the 
organist  as  well)  played  the  air,  “Nearer  my  God  to 
Thee.”  Dr.  Boros  opened  with  prayer  and  introduced 
H.  S.,  who  was  welcomed  by  the  minister.  H.  S.  spoke 
briefly,  conveying  greetings  and  expressing  interest  in 
the  vital  work  of  this  church.  Of  sixteen  hundred 
people  in  the  village  eleven  hundred  and  fifty  are 
Unitarians.  The  sister  church  is  in  Orange,  N.  J. 

The  way  now  led  across  the  broad  valley,  but  per¬ 
mitted  an  inspection  of  the  site  where  it  is  hoped  to 
build  a  church  in  the  chief  town  in  the  district,  Sepsi- 
szentgyorgy.  Through  clouds  of  dust  rising  over  the 
“road”  all  the  way  for  ten  kilometers  the  party  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  Laborfalva.  The  minister  here,  Mr.  Goncz,  is 
a  big  honest  farmer  who  bears  the  marks  of  hard  work 
in  the  fields,  but  who  is  apparently  alive  to  his  respon¬ 
sibilities  as  a  pastor.  The  village  is  small  and  very  few 
of  its  people  are  of  an  educated  class.  Of  a  population 
of  272,  nearly  all  are  Unitarians,  and  the  minister 
regards  seventy-five  other  people,  scattered  in  seventeen 
other  places  in  the  vicinity,  as  a  part  of  his  congregation. 
New  Orleans,  La.,  is  the  sister  church  in  America.  For 
the  school  a  tiny  building  which  was  once  a  granary  is 
used;  here  twenty-four  Unitarian  children  are  taught. 
Five  Unitarian  children  attend  the  State  School,  their 
parents  having  for  one  reason  or  another  found  it 
politic  to  send  them  there.  The  church  bell  having 

[30] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

called  together  about  one  hundred  people,  Dr.  Boros 
opened  a  brief  service  with  prayer  and  then  a  layman, 
president  of  the  district  synod,  gave  an  address  of 
welcome  and  H.  S.  preached  a  brief  sermon.  We  then 
proceeded  to  the  pleasant  house  of  Mr.  Ivan  Szent,  the 
active  young  layman.  He  is  evidently  the  chief  land- 
owner,  and  lives  in  considerable  comfort.  His  hospi¬ 
table  wife  spoke  French  and  a  very  little  English,  and 
the  children  soon  overcame  the  barriers  of  language 
and  adopted  their  visitors. 

In  the  evening  Mr.  Szent  sent  Dr.  Boros  and  H.  S. 
in  his  smart  private  carriage  to  Kokbs,  where  a  neat 
little  parsonage  offered  further  hospitality,  and  the 
’wide-awake  young  minister  and  his  charming  wife 
received  the  party.  A  large  congregation,  comprising 
most  of  the  village,  followed  at  a  respectful  distance  to 
the  church  and  there  in  the  dusk,  with  no  artificial 
light,  another  brief  service  was  held.  It  appeared  to 
mean  much  to  the  minister,  Gabor  Benedek,  and  his 
parishioners  to  receive  such  a  visitation.  The  church  at 
Fairhaven,  Mass.,  is  the  sister  church  of  Kokos. 

A  short  drive  led  to  the  railway,  and  at  9  p.m.  two 
rather  weary  apostles  climbed  on  to  a  train  in  the  dark, 
and  sat  on  the  outside  platform  of  a  crowded  third-class 
car  for  a  two-hour  crawl  into  Brasso.  Here  it  was  found 
that  the  other  members  of  the  Commission  had  arrived 
from  Bucharest  by  automobile,  and  before  retiring  all 
joined  in  a  conference  which  lasted  far  into  the  night. 

July  19,  Wednesday.  We  had  been  told  that  the 
needs  of  the  local  school  would  be  spread  before  us  and 

[31] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

our  counsel  asked.  L.  C.,  P.  P.  and  L.  R.,  returned  to 
the  larger  hotel  and  with  Dr.  Boros  and  H.  S.  met 
several  gentlemen.  It  was  a  very  futile  sort  of  con¬ 
ference,  interrupted  constantly  by  efforts  to  secure  an 
automobile  to  carry  us  further.  This  we  finally  suc¬ 
ceeded  in  doing,  thanks  to  M.  Boerescu’s  untiring 
assistance.  The  arrangement  with  the  chauffeur  was 
made  final  only  by  our  holding  his  driving  license  until 
the  completion  of  his  contract.  We  accomplished 
nothing  in  the  way  of  assisting  the  parish.  Neverthe¬ 
less  we  learned  that  a  small  group  of  loyal  people,  with 
greatly  diminished  means  and  against  heavy  odds,  were 
carrying  on  a  brave  struggle  for  the  continuance  of  their 
church  life.  Cleveland  is  the  sister  church. 

After  having  our  passports  vised  we  finally  got  away 
from  Brasso  at  3 130.  We  drove  out  into  the  fertile  plain 
of  Transylvania,  leaving  behind  us  the  snow-capped 
Carpathians,  and  at  five  o’clock  reached  Bolon,  where 
we  held  our  first  religious  service.  The  minister,  Mr. 
Lofi,  was  a  graduate  of  Manchester  College,  Oxford. 
The  church  is  a  sort  of  basilica.  The  men  sit  in  what 
architecturally  is  the  chancel,  the  women  in  the  nave. 
There  are  galleries  in  either  transept  where  the  children 
gathered  in  large  numbers  and  looked  down  at  us.  We 
shall  always  remember  a  group  of  five  children  in  a  little 
archway  between  the  galleries;  they  looked  like  an  old 
painting  of  an  angel  choir.  P.  P.  offered  prayer  from 
the  high  pulpit;  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  spoke;  the  minister  wel¬ 
comed  us.  The  Presbyterian  minister  also  welcomed  us. 
Dr.  Boros  on  this,  as  on  all  occasions,  acted  as  inter- 

[32] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

preter,  first  translating  the  welcome  to  us  into  English, 
and  then  our  replies  into  Hungarian.  We  walked  to 
the  school,  a  poor  building  compared  to  the  one  taken 
from  them  by  the  Roumanian  State.  We  also  visited 
the  Reformed  Church.  The  Presbytery,  or  governing 
committee  of  the  church,  and  a  large  crowd  of  old  and 
young  followed  us.  We  then  went  to  the  parsonage, 
where  we  enjoyed  our  first  Transylvanian  meal,  an 
elaborate  supper. 

After  a  stay  of  about  an  hour,  we  drove  on  perhaps 
three  miles  to  Nagyajta.  The  minister  is  Mr.  Taar 
Geza,  and  the  membership  of  the  church  numbers  about 
1000.  The  sister  church  is  the  Second  Church  in 
Brooklyn,  New  York.  The  church  building  dates  from 
before  the  Reformation.  It  is  approached  by  a  steep 
lane.  Around  it  is  a  high  wall,  making  it  a  fortress. 
Many  of  the  churches  which  we  were  to  see  were  forti¬ 
fied  in  the  same  way.  Here  we  held  a  brief  service. 
Again  the  Presbyterian  minister  welcomed  us,  as  well 
as  the  minister  of  the  church.  The  interior  was  dim  and 
impressive  in  the  late  afternoon  light.  After  the  service 
a  group  of  women  met  us  by  the  church  door  and  pre¬ 
sented  us  with  flowers.  We  had  a  light  supper  served 
us  at  the  parsonage. 

Then  followed  a  long  and  tiring  drive  in  the  dark  to 
Vargyas.  We  missed  our  way  and  did  not  arrive  until 
midnight.  Dr.  Boros  believed  that  the  minister,  Gyorgy 
Sandor  Kiss,  an  ex-Dean  of  the  district,  had  been 
told  of  our  coming;  but  the  message  had  not  reached 
him,  and  we  descended  upon  him  unannounced.  The 

[33] 


4 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

night  watchman  quite  naturally  discovered  us  as  we 
came  through  the  village,  and  insisted  upon  walking 
before  the  automobile,  waving  his  staff  and  his  lantern, 
to  the  Dean’s  house,  where  he  opened  the  gates  and  our 
car  entered  the  courtyard. 

The  Dean’s  house  deserves  a  word  of  description. 
From  the  street  it  presented  a  wall  one  story  high, 
broken  only  by  large  windows.  We  entered  at  the  left 
end  into  the  courtyard  through  large  and  high  wooden 
gates.  Along  this  end  of  the  house  next  the  gate  ran  a 
veranda  or  passageway  covered  by  the  main  roof  of 
the  house  with  deep-set  arches  forming  a  sort  of  cloister. 
Like  many  of  the  Transylvanian  houses  it  was  built  of 
a  kind  of  adobe  and  then  whitewashed,  the  walls  being 
perhaps  two  feet  thick.  On  the  broad  sills  below  the 
arches  were  boxes  of  gay  geraniums.  Across  the  back 
of  the  house  was  another  veranda  partly  closed  in,  with 
a  small  table  and  benches,  evidently  used  as  a  dining 
room.  Against  the  white  wall  behind  the  unpainted 
pine  benches  hung  bright-colored  home-made  rugs. 
Through  this  covered  porch  we  entered  a  good-sized 
room  in  which  there  were  desks  and  cupboards.  From 
this  room  we  passed  to  the  large  living  room,  used  also 
as  a  dining  room.  On  either  side  of  it  stood  iron  bed¬ 
steads.  It  is  the  Transylvanian  custom  to  have  beds 
in  nearly  all  the  rooms;  some  are  used  regularly,  and 
others  evidently  are  kept  for  passing  guests.  On  the 
left  of  this  room  was  the  kitchen,  and  on  the  right 
another  large  room,  and  out  of  it  still  another.  In 
these  two  last  were  beds.  P.  P.  and  L.  C.  were  given 

[34] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

the  largest  room.  Dr.  Boros  and  H.  S.  slept  in  the 
living  room,  in  which  were  two  children  in  cribs.  L.  R. 
went  to  the  school-teacher’s  house  near  by. 

July  20th.  We  breakfasted  about  nine  o’clock.  Be¬ 
fore  the  breakfast  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  had  a  talk  with  the 
host  and  with  the  President  of  the  church  district,  who 
was  a  baron.  He  arrived  in  his  carriage  and  looked  very 
much  like  a  comfortable,  well-set-up  English  squire. 

The  minister,  Gyorgy  Sandor  Kiss,  for  over  forty 
years  minister  of  this  parish,  and  for  twenty  years 
Dean  of  the  district,  was  a  fine-looking,  vigorous  man, 
who  spoke  to  us  with  pride  of  his  twenty  grandchildren. 
His  widowed  daughter  lives  with  him.  Her  eldest  son 
is  a  student  at  Budapest.  The  government  had  refused 
to  allow  him  to  return  home  for  the  summer  vacation. 

There  are  perhaps  two  thousand  students  from 
Transylvania  in  Budapest.  Most  of  them,  we  were 
told,  desired  to  go  home  to  work  on  the  land  during  the 
summer  months,  but  the  Roumanian  government 
would  not  allow  any  of  them  to  do  so. 

Budapest  is  the  centre  of  irredentism .  To  allow  two 
thousand  or  more  students  from  Budapest  to  return  to 
Transylvania  might  create  political  disturbance.  Such 
apparently  is  the  opinion  of  the  Roumanian  govern¬ 
ment. 

Passing  from  these  general  considerations,  the  fact 
that  this  young  man  was  not  permitted  to  go  home  con¬ 
stituted  a  grievance  not  only  for  the  minister  and  his 
family,  but  for  the  whole  community,  and  stimulated 
hostile  feelings  toward  the  Roumanian  authorities. 

[35] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

As  our  breakfast  on  this  Thursday  morning  was  the 
first  taken  in  a  private  family  in  Transylvania,  it  may 
be  well  to  describe  it.  Cold  fried  chicken,  eggs,  coarse 
brown  bread,  honey  and  excellent  butter  were  spread 
before  us.  A  tall  bottle  standing  upon  the  table 
aroused  our  curiosity.  It  was  filled  with  cold  and  very 
strong  coffee.  A  pan  of  hot  milk  was  brought  from  the 
kitchen  and  placed  upon  the  table,  then  poured  into 
cups  with  a  silver  ladle  and  mixed  with  the  cold  coffee 
essence.  The  result  was  very  pleasant. 

After  finishing  breakfast,  we  left  the  house  and 
walked  along  very  untidy  streets  to  the  church.  The 
cattle  are  driven  in  from  the  fields  to  the  barnyards 
through  the  streets,  leaving  them  much  like  the  barn¬ 
yards.  The  Dean  said  had  he  known  that  we  were 
coming  he  would  have  had  the  village  swept! 

The  church  was  a  large  building  dating  from  before 
the  Reformation.  A  congregation  of  perhaps  three 
hundred  gathered.  H.  S.,  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  spoke. 

It  might  be  well  at  this  point  to  explain  the  procedure 
followed  in  all  the  churches.  First  a  hymn  was  sung, 
then  prayer  was  offered  from  the  pulpit,  usually  by  one 
of  the  visitors.  Dr.  Boros  would  translate.  Everyone 
stood.  There  followed  a  speech  of  welcome  by  the 
minister,  who  wore  his  gown.  Sometimes  the  welcome 
was  given  by  the  lay-president  of  the  congregation. 
Dr.  Boros  repeated  the  speech  in  English.  One  of  us 
would  next  speak  on  behalf  of  the  American  churches; 
then  L.  R.  would  speak  on  behalf  of  the  English 
churches,  and  Dr.  Boros  would  translate  each  in  turn. 

[36] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

In  conclusion  Dr.  Boros  would  speak  to  the  congrega¬ 
tion.  There  was  always  a  hymn  at  the  beginning  and 
a  hymn  at  the  end.  The  music  was  unlike  any  church 
music  that  we  are  familiar  with.  Its  range  was  very 
limited,  the  tempo  extremely  slow,  and  the  effect  some¬ 
what  suggestive  of  Gregorian  chanting.  Much  of  the 
music  was  in  the  minor  key,  which  gave  the  feeling  of 
melancholy.  What  the  singing  often  lacked  in  musical 
quality  was  made  up  in  volume  and  vigor. 

From  the  church  we  returned  to  the  minister’s 
home.  He  told  us  that  he  seldom  saw  ministers  from 
outside  his  district  oftener  than  once  in  five  years. 
We  were  very  grateful  to  him  for  his  hospitality  and 
welcome. 

We  left  about  ten  o’clock,  and  drove  to  Homorodok- 
land,  the  sister  church  to  West  Newton.  Entering  the 
village,  we  came  to  a  gateway  where  a  crowd  welcomed 
us,  throwing  flowers  and  presenting  bouquets.  A 
minister  from  a  neighboring  town,  Mr.  Bencedy, 
addressed  us  in  English. 

In  most  of  the  villages  much  attention  is  paid  to  the 
gateways.  Just  as  in  the  architecture  of  colonial  New 
England  the  decoration  was  lavished  upon  the  door¬ 
ways,  so  here  ornamentation  is  placed  almost  exclusively 
on  the  gateways. 

The  entrance  to  the  parsonage  enclosure  was  of  a 
familiar  type.  Two  large  and  heavy  wooden  gates 
admitted  the  vehicles;  beside  them  a  smaller  gate  was 
used  more  conveniently  for  the  people  living  in  the 
house.  Over  the  uprights,  supporting  these  three 

[37] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

gates,  extended  a  decorated  wooden  top  bearing  the 
following  carved  inscription: 

“1809  Az  Oklandi  Unitarus  eklezsia  Albert  Szigmund 
papsaga  alatt  epittette  a  papi  kajasut. 

Az  egyence  serif  ezen  kapu  varja  kettos  ezivut  pediz 
ve  ’zheheppen  hizarja. 

Isten  akaratjat  hirdeto  e’o  szo’lo’  Lahik  itt,  in  hienj  be 
pre’  dalo’  ho’  borlo.’” 

Translated  it  reads: 

‘‘The  parsonage  gate  of  Oakland  was  built  in  Szigmund 
Albert’s  pastorate,  1809. 

Here  the  true-hearted  are  welcomed,  but  the  double- 
hearted  are  shut  out. 

The  preacher  of  God’s  will  dwells  here  and  the  trouble¬ 
maker  must  not  enter.” 

The  church  was  a  pre-Reformation  structure  within 
high  walls,  and  contained  an  interesting  old  paneled 
and  painted  ceiling.  We  went  through  the  parsonage 
enclosure  and  entered  the  church  by  the  side  door.  The 
congregation  numbered  perhaps  six  hundred  people. 
H.  S.  gave  the  address,  and  spoke  of  Oakland  and 
Berkeley  in  California. 

After  the  meeting  we  went  to  the  minister's  house. 
A  broad  veranda  led  from  the  yard  across  the  side  of 
the  house.  A  large  living  room  opened  upon  this  ve¬ 
randa,  and  from  this  central  room  smaller  rooms  opened. 
A  long  table  was  set  in  the  large  room.  There  were 

[38] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

perhaps  twenty-five  people  at  the  table,  mostly  minis¬ 
ters  and  church  officers.  A  gypsy  band  played  in  the 
yard  during  part  of  the  time.  As  we  were  about  to 
leave,  a  discussion  occurred  between  our  host,  Dr.  Boros, 
and  a  Roumanian  soldier.  On  inquiry  we  learned  that 
the  Roumanian  police  officer  asked  to  see  our  passports. 
The  people  were  irritated  at  his  demand,  which  was 
probably  superfluous.  We  immediately  went  to  the 
Police  Office,  where  we  \  were  courteously  received  and 
showed  our  passports.  The  whole  affair  took  perhaps 
twenty  minutes.  Probably  the  police  official  intended 
to  impress  the  village  people  with  his  authority.  Our 
entire  readiness  to  show  our  passports  made  the  situa¬ 
tion  quite  easy. 

We  drove  back  along  the  valley  one  mile  to  Homoro- 
dujfalu.  Here  the  people  in  their  Hungarian  costumes 
had  gathered  in  the  road  and  stood  around  the  car. 
They  presented  us  with  flowers.  The  minister  ad¬ 
dressed  us  and  we  replied.  We  then  ascended  through 
a  long,  steep  and  terraced  lane  to  the  church,  which  was 
located  on  the  shoulder  of  a  high  hill  and  commanded 
a  magnificent  view  of  the  whole  valley.  This  church, 
both  inside  and  out,  showed  that  the  community  was 
not  prosperous.  The  sister  church  is  in  Berkeley.  Re¬ 
turning,  we  went  to  the  parsonage,  where  we  were  wel¬ 
comed  by  Mr.  Bencedy  and  his  wife. 

In  most  of  the  villages  visited  the  parsonage  appeared 
to  be  the  best  house.  The  minister  in  many  places  was 
also  a  farmer,  tilling  several  acres  of  land  from  which  he 
gained  much  of  his  living. 

[39] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  I 


922 


We  drove  on  after  perhaps  an  hour’s  stop  to  Homoro- 
dalmas.  We  visited  the  church,  a  big  and  somewhat 
dilapidated  building  and  then  went  to  the  large  and 
well-kept  parsonage.  The  minister  was  away,  but  his 
wife  and  daughter  made  us  welcome.  We  entered 
through  an  outer  office  or  business  room  into  a  sit¬ 
ting  room,  measuring  perhaps  25  x  16  feet.  A  charm¬ 
ing  old  rosewood  cimbale  stood  near  the  door.  The 
daughter  of  the  house  played  for  us,  touching  the  wire 
strings  with  two  small  hammers.  The  cimbale  is  used 
in  place  of  the  piano  in  most  of  the  Hungarian  orches¬ 
tras,  and  we  saw  a  number  of  these  instruments  in 
private  houses.  At  one  end  of  the  room  stood  a  massive 
loom,  and  the  women  of  the  house  showed  us  the  linen 
that  they  had  woven.  Some  of  it  they  had  embroidered 
as  well.  On  the  wall  we  noticed  a  coat  of  arms,  painted 
on  a  plaque  perhaps  twelve  inches  square  in  blue,  white, 
red  and  gold.  We  learned  that  the  family  was  of  dis¬ 
tinguished  lineage.  We  were  shown  three  pieces  of 
ancient  church  plate  dating  from  the  fourteenth  century 
and  continuously  used  in  this  church.  One  was  a  very 
beautiful  gold  and  silver  chalice  of  intricate  design;  the 
other  pieces  were  simpler,  and  less  interesting. 

We  drove  to  Homorodkaracsonfalva,  where  the 
church  stood  at  the  meeting  of  two  roads.  The  sister 
church  is  at  Jamaica  Plain.  The  building  was  very 
poor  and  ill-kept.  The  people  had  not  known  of  our 
coming.  As  in  every  other  instance  the  church  bell 
rang  at  our  approach.  A  few  men  gathered  from 
the  fields.  We  did  not  attempt  to  hold  a  service. 


[40] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

A  peasant  woman  brought  us  bouquets.  We  had  a 
talk  with  the  minister. 

Here,  as  in  most  of  the  churches,  the  organ  pipes  had 
been  taken  by  the  soldiers  to  be  melted  into  bullets. 
We  always  asked  by  what  soldiers.  Apparently  the 
Austrian  and  Roumanian  soldiers  robbed  the  churches 
equally.  This  seems  to  be  fairly  typical  of  the  fate  of 
the  churches  in  the  countryside.  Whether  friends  or 
enemies  passed,  the  people  suffered. 

L.  C.  climbed  a  very  crude  flight  of  steps  —  hardly 
more  than  a  ladder — to  the  loft  and  looked  at  the 
organ,  stripped  of  half  its  pipes,  only  the  wooden  ones 
remaining.  It  was  a  pitiful  little  instrument,  with 
only  four  octaves  to  the  keyboard,  yet  the  minister 
said  that  its  loss  was  one  of  their  bitterest  hardships. 
They  could  not  sing  nearly  so  well  as  formerly.  The 
parish  was  probably  as  poor  as  any  we  visited. 

The  poverty  of  this  and  other  villages  is  of  a  kind 
that  we  know  nothing  about  at  home.  Many  of  the 
people  see  very  little  money.  Few  of  them  would 
handle  any  amount  of  it  in  a  lifetime.  They  are  well 
nourished,  because  they  live  off  their  own  land.  In 
every  village  the  women  may  be  seen  standing  at  the 
doors,  distaff’s  in  hand,  spinning  out  the  yarn,  which 
later  they  will  knit  and  weave.  The  life  is  of  a  sim¬ 
plicity  almost  impossible  for  English  people  or  Amer¬ 
icans  to  understand.  For  generations  the  State  has 
supported  the  churches,  and  the  churches  have  sup¬ 
ported  the  schools.  There  is  not  even  a  rudimentary 
comprehension  of  what  we  mean  by  the  self-support  of 

[41  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

local  institutions.  In  this  village,  in  answer  to  the 
question  how  much  money  does  the  parish  raise  a  year, 
we  were  told  about  one  hundred  lei  (less  than  a  dollar). 
Because  of  these  primitive  conditions,  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  the  people  lack  intelligence.  On  the 
contrary  they  are  an  exceedingly  vigorous-minded 
people. 

We  drove  for  about  an  hour  to  Homorodszentpal. 
We  were  met  by  five  young  women  in  national  Hun¬ 
garian  costume,  bringing  us  flowers,  with  which  after¬ 
wards  they  trimmed  the  automobile.  We  went  to  the 
large  white  church  set  in  its  green  enclosure  and  sur¬ 
rounded  by  its  ancient  fortifications.  Again,  this  was 
a  pre-Reformation  edifice.  Like  so  many,  it  had  once 
possessed  a  deep  chancel,  now  occupied  by  the  seats  for 
the  men  arranged  to  face  the  seats  in  the  nave  occupied 
by  the  women.  The  pulpit  stood  against  the  left  wall 
of  the  chancel  with  seats  opposite  it.  One  seat  for  the 
minister,  covered  with  a  canopy,  stood  directly  back 
of  the  pulpit.  There  was  excellent  feeling  displayed 
here,  and  a  large  congregation  welcomed  us.  After  the 
service  we  went  to  the  parsonage  and  had  refreshments, 
a  good  plain  cake  with  a  raspberry-flavored  water.  In 
New  York  State,  it  is  called  “raspberry  shrub.” 

At  Homorodszentmarton  a  large  congregation  of 
village  people,  perhaps  four  hundred,  were  assembled 
in  the  big  bare  church.  The  sister  church  is  in  Mont¬ 
clair.  P.  P.  went  into  the  pulpit  and  offered  prayer, 
and  afterwards  sat  in  the  minister’s  seat.  The  young 
minister,  wrapped  in  his  gown,  stood  in  the  middle  of  the 

[42] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

church  facing  P.  P.  and  made  his  speech  of  welcome, 
then  translated  it  himself  into  excellent  English.  It 
evidently  had  been  carefully  prepared  and  memorized, 
but  at  the  end  in  his  earnestness  perhaps  he  forgot  a 
portion  of  his  translation.  “There  are  three  great 
wrongs,”  he  concluded  with  much  emphasis,  “and  these 
are  Faith,  Hope  and  Love.” 

Following  the  meeting  in  the  church,  where  we  shook 
hands  with  many  people,  we  went  to  the  parsonage,  a 
substantial  and  well-placed  house,  very  simple  and 
clean.  We  reached  the  living  room  by  going  up  a  flight 
of  steps  and  crossing  a  veranda.  Here  refreshments 
were  served.  We  stayed  perhaps  half  an  hour. 

For  the  next  hour  and  a  half  we  drove  through  a  long 
valley,  climbing  sometimes  on  one  side  of  the  hills  and 
sometimes  on  the  other,  as  we  approached  a  sort  of 
pass.  We  saw  in  the  distance  —  now  on  one  side  and 
now  on  the  other  : —  four  churches,  but  we  did  not  have 
time  to  visit  them. 

We  finally  reached  Szekelyudvarhely,  a  considerable 
city,  at  about  ten  o’clock.  The  sister  church  is  in  Provi¬ 
dence,  R.  I.  We  drove  through  lighted  and  well-paved 
streets  to  the  parsonage,  a  commodious  city  house, 
where  we  were  cordially  welcomed  by  the  minister, 
Mr.  Boloni,  and  his  wife.  The  gates  were  opened,  the 
automobile  came  into  the  yard,  where  it  stayed  for  the 
night,  and  we  were  shown  up  through  the  veranda  and 
into  the  big  living  room.  As  in  some  of  the  better 
houses  where  we  were  entertained,  this  one-story  sub¬ 
stantial  dwelling  had  a  central  hallway.  On  the  right 

[43] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

was  the  kitchen,  on  the  left  a  large  room.  Across  the 
end  of  the  hall  was  the  big  living  room,  from  which 
opened  on  the  right  a  bedroom,  and  on  the  left  a  family 
parlor.  All  the  rooms,  the  family  parlor,  the  living 
room,  and  the  others,  had  the  customary  bedsteads  in 
the  corners,  ornamented  with  heavy  covers.  There  was 
long  preparation  for  refreshments,  nearly  two  hours, 
in  fact.  Several  men  came  to  call  upon  us  and  there 
was  much  talk.  Among  them  was  the  father  of  a  theo¬ 
logical  student  now  studying  in  the  Home  Missionary 
College  at  Manchester,  England.  We  got  to  bed  after 
midnight. 

At  eight  o’clock  in  the  morning,  we  held  service  in 
the  large  white  church  next  the  parsonage.  It  was  one 
of  the  few  city  churches  which  we  visited,  white  out¬ 
side  and  inside,  with  tiled  floor,  and  yellow  benches. 
The  communion  table  was  covered  with  a  white  cloth 
and  had  flowers  upon  it  in  the  national  Hungarian 
colors,  red,  white  and  green.  The  bell  rang  for  ten 
minutes,  perhaps  one  hundred  people  gathered.  L.  C. 
went  into  the  pulpit  and  offered  prayer.  The  minister 
made  us  a  speech  of  welcome  with  great  emotion.  H.  S. 
and  L.  R.  spoke.  For  the  first  time  since  the  Rou¬ 
manian  occupation  the  congregation  sang  the  national 
Hungarian  hymn.  This  is  permitted  by  the  Roumanian 
authorities,  and  was  in  no  way  irregular.  Nearly  every¬ 
one  in  the  church  wept.  The  men  who  occupied  the 
chief  seats,  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  the  church, 
sobbed  with  their  handkerchiefs  to  their  faces. 

We  were  constantly  impressed  by  the  amount  of  work 

[44] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

done  by  our  ministers.  Mr.  Boloni,  besides  his  parish 
work,  which  includes  at  least  one  daily  service  in  the 
church,  teaches  religion  for  eighteen  hours  a  week  in 
the  elementary  schools. 

Following  the  morning  meeting  we  had  a  long 
breakfast.  Many  choice  things  were  served,  particu¬ 
larly  excellent  coffee  and  “chimney  cake,”  a  favorite 
Hungarian  dainty.  It  is  made  of  sweet  batter,  wound 
around  a  metal  form  about  five  inches  in  diameter,  and 
then  baked  and  sugared.  The  form  is  withdrawn,  leav¬ 
ing  a  hollow  tube  of  cake.  It  is  sweet  and  rich,  but  of 
no  marked  flavor.  At  this  breakfast  table  the  whole 
long  chimney  cake  was  brought  in  and  exhibited  for  our 
entertainment,  an  appetizing  sight. 

We  left  about  ten  o’clock  and  drove  along  a  beautiful 
valley  to  Szentmihaly.  The  church  occupies  a  central 
position,  from  which  three  sister  or  filial  churches  are 
served.  It  is  a  fine  old  building,  beautifully  kept, 
spacious  and  impressive,  about  the  size  of  St.  Paul’s 
Cathedral  in  Boston.  Many  of  the  churches  we  visited 
were  shabby,  due  partly  to  the  troubles  of  the  past  ten 
years.  Some  were  not  well  swept.  This  church  was 
exceedingly  well  kept,  everything  was  clean,  the  paint 
was  white,  and  the  whole  effect  dignified  and  very 
pleasing.  In  most  of  the  churches  the  pulpits  were 
shrouded  in  a  velvet  cloth  from  the  top  to  the  floor. 
These  draperies  added  little  beauty,  although  they  did 
lend  color  to  the  cold  stone  and  cement  interiors.  In 
this  church  no  drapery  hid  the  stone  pulpit,  which 
rose  like  a  flower  in  green  and  gold  against  a  white 

[45] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

wall.  Over  all  the  pulpits  there  were  heavy  sounding 
boards,  usually  shaped  like  crowns,  elaborately  orna¬ 
mented  and  colored.  Here  the  sounding  board  com¬ 
pleted  the  design  and  was  beautifully  gilded.  At  home, 
one  of  these  massive  pulpits,  even  decorated  as  this  was, 
would  be  out  of  place.  But  in  the  large  bare  interior, 
with  its  thick  white  walls,  its  windows  with  transparent 
glass,  where  the  only  color  was  given  by  the  painted 
blue  pews  and  the  red  tiled  floor,  it  was  effective.  It 
was  one  of  the  finest  pulpits  that  we  saw. 

Here,  as  in  many  other  places,  we  saw  the  school¬ 
rooms  and  heard  the  story  of  the  difficulties  in  support¬ 
ing  the  schoolmaster,  and  of  the  interference  of  the  Rou¬ 
manian  authorities,  despite  the  provisions  of  the  Peace 
Treaty.  The  schoolmaster  showed  us  the  furniture 
made  by  the  scholars,  and  a  large  sign  with  “Welcome” 
painted  upon  it,  which  they  had  prepared  for  our 
coming.  He  told  us  stories  of  hardship,  and  made 
courageous  statements  about  the  unshaken  intention 
of  his  people  to  maintain  their  churches  and  schools 
against  all  odds.  How  this  can  be  done  if  the  farming 
land  is  permanently  taken  from  them  is  certainly  a 
problem.  All  that  has  kept  the  great  majority  of  our 
Transylvanian  churches  alive  is  the  American  support, 
as  all  that  has  kept  the  schools  and  colleges  alive  is  the 
British  support. 

The  noble  tower  of  this  church  before  the  war  con¬ 
tained  two  ancient  bells  which  served  the  mother  and 
filial  congregations,  and  were  greatly  loved.  Both  were 
taken  by  the  Roumanian  soldiers.  Nearly  all  the 

[46] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

churches  in  pre-war  days  had  two  or  more  bells.  In 
some  the  smaller  bell  has  been  left.  Here,  as  has  been 
said,  both  bells  had  been  taken.  But  the  congregation 
could  not  endure  a  silent  belfry,  and  had  hung  in  their 
place  a  long  strip  of  iron.  In  our  honor  this  was 
pounded  with  a  hammer,  and  gave  forth  a  most  melan¬ 
choly  sound.  Bells  are  comparatively  inexpensive.  A 
good  bell  costs  in  Bucharest  from  £15  up.  A  large  bell, 
equivalent  to  the  better  bell  that  was  taken,  could  be 
purchased  for  about  £40. 

The  minister,  Mr.  Deak,  and  his  wife  were  people  of 
independent  means  and  lived  in  a  spacious  house  like 
those  already  described.  A  dainty  luncheon  had  been 
prepared  for  us.  These  two  devoted  leaders  bore  the 
marks  of  the  suffering  and  sorrow  endured  so  long  with 
their  people. 

This  congregation  had  expected  us  the  previous 
evening,  and  had  waited  until  1  a.m.  for  our  coming. 
They  were  now  much  disappointed  that  we  arrived 
unheralded  and  stayed  so  short  a  time. 

A  long  and  beautiful  drive  brought  us  to  Marosvasar- 
hely,  where  we  arrived  about  three  o’clock.  It  is  a  city  of 
size  and  prominence.  Our  church  is  comparatively  a 
new  movement,  occupying  a  “Prayer  House,’’  a  small, 
attractive  meeting  house,  well  located  on  a  main  street, 
opposite  the  leading  hotel.  The  congregation  owns  also 
a  good  adjacent  lot,  and  before  the  war  had  accumulated 
nearly  enough  money  to  build  a  substantial  church. 
Although  the  congregation  numbers  six  hundred  per¬ 
sons,  mostly  railroad  employees,  the  undertaking  has 

[47] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

of  necessity  been  indefinitely  postponed.  The  sister 
church  is  the  First  Church  in  Boston. 

We  lunched  at  the  hotel  with  the  minister,  Mr. 
Rediger,  of  noble  birth,  a  sturdy  and  attractive  man 
perhaps  thirty  years  of  age.  He  had  been  thrown  into 
prison  without  trial  and  kept  there  for  nearly  a  year. 
Finally,  when  his  trial  was  appointed,  he  had  to  pay  the 
judge  to  hear  the  case.  These  facts  were  published,  and 
the  Roumanian  authorities  instructed  the  newspapers  to 
state  that  Roumanian  judges  expect  to  receive  fees  from 
the  accused  before  trial.  Professor  Galfi  was  imprisoned 
with  Mr.  Rediger.  Galfi  and  others  were  flogged. 
This  indignity  Mr.  Rediger  escaped.  So  far  as  we  can 
learn,  no  charges  were  substantiated  against  these 
prominent  men.  They  were  apparently  selected  as  men 
to  be  disciplined  because  they  were  leaders,  and  for  the 
terrifying  effect  that  brutal  treatment  given  them 
might  have  upon  others. 

After  two  hours  we  proceeded  to  Torda.  The  long 
drive  was  very  beautiful,  with  low  hills, sweeping  to  the 
right,  and  a  great  plain,  all  cultivated,  to  the  left.  As 
we  returned  to  Torda  later,  the  description  of  this 
Mecca  of  Unitarianism  will  be  left  until  our  second 
visit.  We  went  first  to  the  parsonage,  then  to  the 
college,  next  to  the  Roman  Catholic  church  where  the 
great  Diet  of  Torda  was  held  in  1582,  then  to  see  the 
original  of  the  well-known  painting  of  Francis  David, 
which  hangs  in  the  Municipal  Building;  and,  finally,  to 
our  own  beautiful  church,  and  back  to  the  parsonage, 
where  Mr.  Lorinczi  and  his  wife  gave  us  refreshment 

[48] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

and  a  cordial  welcome.  After  a  rest  of  an  hour  and  a 
half,  we  drove  on  again  to  Cluj-Kolozsvar.  The  drive 
was  a  long,  slow  ascent  in  the  dark  to  a  high  plateau. 
As  we  came  to  the  highest  point,  there  below  us  on  the 
plain  were  the  lights  of  Kolozsvar,  the  city  that  has 
often  been  called  the  “Unitarian  Rome.”  Here  our 
free  faith  was  first  officially  recognized,  and  here 
Francis  David  preached.  We  arrived  about  midnight 
at  the  Unitarian  College,  where  we  were  to  lodge. 

Saturday,  July  22nd.  As  much  of  our  trip  centred 
in  Cluj-Kolozsvar,*  and  in  the  College,  let  us  first  de¬ 
scribe  the  College  building.  It  occupies  a  large  city 
block  in  a  desirable  and  central  location.  Built  around 
four  sides  of  a  court,  it  is  a  dignified  and  impressive 
building  of  four  stories,  although  without  architectural 
pretense.  In  the  high  basement  are  three  dining  halls 
and  large  kitchens,  storage  rooms,  baths,  a  swimming 
pool,  furnace  rooms,  and  a  gymnasium  two  stories  in 
height.  This  is  used  also  for  entertainments,  dances, 
etc.  On  the  first  floor  are  the  offices  of  administration 
for  the  schools  and  colleges,  laboratories  for  chemistry 
and  physics,  a  well-equipped  museum,  a  dignified  fac¬ 
ulty  room,  and  several  lecture  rooms.  On  the  second 
floor  is  a  large  assembly  room  extending  two  stories  in 
height,  with  a  deep  gallery.  This  is  used  for  meetings 
of  the  General  Consistory  and  for  all  formal  occasions. 
In  general  arrangement  it  is  not  unlike  Sanders 
Theatre  at  Harvard  University,  although  of  smaller 

*  The  Hungarian  name  is  Kolozsvar,  the  Roumanian  name  is  Cluj.  It 
is  now  frequently  called  Cluj-Kolozsvar. 

5  [49] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

seating  capacity.  A  high  pulpit  is  the  central  feature, 
with  smaller  desks  and  platform  beneath  it.  Under  the 
gray  stone  columns  supporting  the  gallery  is  a  frieze 
ornamented  with  gold  bas-reliefs  of  prominent  Hun¬ 
garian  Unitarians.  It  is  really  a  noble  room,  and  seats 
perhaps  eight  hundred  people.  Adjoining  it  is  a  smaller 
Consistory  room,  where  the  Representative  Consistory 
meets.  Here  a  long  table  occupies  the  centre.  Around 
the  wall  are  seats  with  small  desks  in  front  of  them.  It 
looks  much  like  a  legislative  chamber.  The  walls  are 
thickly  hung  with  portraits  and  coats  of  arms.  There 
are  portraits  of  two  women,  Miss  Sharp  of  London,  and 
Mrs.  Richmond  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  bene¬ 
factors  of  the  Transylvanian  churches.  Adjoining  this 
room  is  the  office  of  the  Bishop’s  secretary.  Next  this 
is  the  Bishop’s  office,  a  corner  room  perhaps  25  ft.  by 
18  ft.,  with  windows  on  two  sides.  The  walls  are  hung 
with  portraits.  There  is  a  long  leather  sofa,  with  arm¬ 
chairs,  table, desk,  and  many  bookshelves;  two  iron  bed¬ 
steads  are  tucked  away  in  the  corners.  This  room  was 
occupied  by  P.  P.  and  L.  C.  Continuing  the  description 
of  the  other  rooms  on  the  second  floor,  there  is  a  library 
for  the  professors,  occupied  as  a  bedroom  by  L.  R.  and 
H.  S.,  students’  dormitories,  lecture  rooms,  the  exten¬ 
sive  main  library,  particularly  rich  in  Polish  and 
Hungarian  Unitarian  history,  and  the  Dean’s  room 
with  rosewood  furniture.  The  top  floor  is  given  up  to 
dormitories  and  more  lecture  rooms. 

The  building  is  about  twenty-five  years  old.  Before 
its  erection  the  College  occupied  a  building  across  the 

[50] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

street,  which  it  still  owns,  known  now  as  the  Old 
College.  This  the  Roumanians  have  commandeered, 
forcing  out  the  girls’  schools  which  were  occupying  it. 

The  present  building  shelters  the  following  activi¬ 
ties:  an  elementary  school  for  boys,  which  is  a  day 
school  only;  a  gymnasium  or  boys’  high  school,  which 
supplies  both  school  and  lodgings;  a  divinity  school 
giving  lodging  and  instruction  to  thirty-six  students 
(now  crowded  to  the  top  floor) ;  the  lodgings  for  the  girl 
students,  who  are  given  some  instruction,  but  find  most 
of  their  schooling  in  other  city  institutions;  and  lastly, 
all  the  denominational  activities  of  a  highly  centralized 
administration  under  the  Consistory.  During  the  war, 
the  College  was  used  as  a  hospital,  and  was  superficially 
damaged. 

Before  the  war  the  building  was  adequate.  The 
Girls’  Home  which  should  be  in  the  Old  College,  now 
creates  in  this  building  a  very  congested  condition,  un¬ 
desirable  from  every  point  of  view.  Two  rooms,  15  ft. 
by  21  ft.  in  area,  are  each  occupied  by  nineteen  girls. 
Here  they  must  sleep  and  study  and  play.  These 
rooms  were  formerly  used  by  divinity  students,  who  are 
now  crowded  almost  as  badly  on  the  top  floor.  In  two 
rooms  somewhat  larger  than  those  just  described, 
thirty-six  men  must  study  and  sleep.  There  can  be  no 
privacy  or  cultural  advantages.  Such  crowding  greatly 
interferes  with  the  work  of  the  schools.  Professor  Csifo 
said  to  us,  “How  can  we  train  scholars  in  such  congested 
conditions?  And  how  can  we  educate  the  girls  when 
they  are  so  herded  together?” 

[50 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

The  Countess  Teleki  begs  that  a  sum  of  $4500  be 
raised  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  a  dwelling  to  be 
used  for  a  girls’  dormitory.*  The  Commission  believes 
that  there  would  be  great  advantages  in  taking  some 
forward  step  at  this  time. 

On  Saturday  we  breakfasted  in  the  Bishop’s  secre¬ 
tary’s  room,  as  we  did  each  morning,  on  coffee,  rolls  and 
honey.  We  devoted  the  morning  to  interviews.  Im¬ 
mediately  after  lunch,  P.  P.  and  L.  R.  departed  by 
automobile  for  Szekelykeresztur.  H.  S.  and  L.  C. 
stayed  for  the  Sunday  in  Cluj.  L.  C.  was  urged  to 
preach  at  Torda,  but  after  consultation  it  seemed 
wiser  to  remain  at  the  College. 

We  learned  on  our  arrival  that  Bishop  Ferencz’s  only 
son  had  died  two  days  before  and  that  the  funeral  would 
be  held  on  Saturday  afternoon.  Dr.  Boros  kindly  took 
our  cards  to  the  Bishop.  We  were  told  that  the  funeral 
would  undoubtedly  be  delayed.  When  bodies  were 
brought  from  other  towns  by  railway  it  often  happened 
that  the  car  carrying  the  casket  would  be  sidetracked 
at  some  small  station  and  the  family  would  have  to  pay 
a  gratuity  to  the  local  agent  to  get  the  car  attached  to 
another  train.  A  widow,  whose  property  had  mostly 
been  taken  from  her,  had  to  pay  a  very  heavy  sum  to 
get  the  body  of  her  only  son  removed  from  a  siding, 
where  the  car  had  been  deliberately  halted  in  hot 
weather,  and  brought  into  Cluj  two  days  after  the  date 
set  for  the  funeral.  We  were  told  that  it  would  un¬ 
doubtedly  cost  Bishop  Ferencz  a  considerable  sum  of 

*  Of  this  about  $500  has  been  pledged. 


[51] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

money,  since  he  was  a  prominent  man,  to  bring  his  son’s 
body  into  Cluj.  Later  in  the  day  we  were  informed 
that  the  body  had  not  arrived,  and  the  funeral  would 
be  delayed  until  Sunday.  We  were  unabl  eto  verify 
the  statements  made  concerning  this  illegal  and  despi¬ 
cable  way  of  extorting  money,  but  we  repeated  these 
statements  to  several  persons,  and  were  told  that 
they  could  supply  accounts  of  similar  happenings  in  a 
number  of  places.  We  cannot  vouch  for  these  state¬ 
ments,  but  regard  them  as  credible.  The  Roumanian 
petty  officials  are  paid  inadequately,  when  paid  at  all. 
As  Roumania  was  a  Turkish  province  up  to  fifty  years 
ago,  the  method  of  Turkish  administration  is  still  the 
Roumanian  habit.  The  official  must  collect  his  income 
from  his  district,  and  the  custom  permeates  the  entire 
fabric  of  Roumanian  life;  if  you  want  anything  from  a 
public  official,  you  must  pay  for  it.  We  found  other 
instances,  which  will  be  mentioned  later. 

Sunday,  July  23.  Next  to  the  College,  and  separated 
only  by  a  narrow  street,  stands  the  beautiful  church,  a 
noble  structure  seating  fifteen  hundred  people.  As  in 
so  many  of  the  churches,  what  was  architecturally  the 
chancel  is  now  filled  with  pews  facing  the  pews  in  the 
nave.  The  transepts  are  very  shallow,  the  seats  facing 
the  centre.  In  the  middle  stands  the  round  communion 
table,  as  is  the  custom  in  all  the  churches.  The  scrupu¬ 
lously  clean  interior  has  whitened  walls  and  is  slightly 
ornamented.  The  fine  organ  fills  the  gallery  over  the 
main  entrance.  The  pulpit,  surmounted  by  the  usual 
heavy  sounding  board,  stands  at  the  junction  of  transept 

[53] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

and  chancel  on  the  left,  and  is  entered  through  a  stair 
concealed  in  the  masonry. 

Just  before  service,  we  received  a  call  from  the  Count 
and  Countess  Teleki.  The  recent  visit  of  the  Countess 
to  the  United  States  we  all  gratefully  remembered. 
Bishop  Nagy  with  his  chaplain  also  called  upon  us.  He 
is  the  Presbyterian  Bishop  of  Transylvania.  He  ac¬ 
companied  L.  C.  to  church  and  sat  with  him  in  the  pew, 
a  denominational  courtesy  which  was  deeply  appre¬ 
ciated.  He  is  a  minister  of  great  ability,  much  honored 
in  the  community,  who  has  been  a  very  good  friend  to 
our  Unitarian  people. 

With  these  and  other  friends  H.  S.  and  L.  C.  went  in 
procession  from  the  College  to  the  church,  H.  S.  wearing 
the  long  sleeveless  black  gown  used  in  Transylvania, 
the  full  folds  of  which  are  carried  over  the  left  arm. 

The  church,  except  for  the  seats  reserved  for  the 
students,*  was  filled  with  earnest  men  and  women, 
there  being  perhaps  one  thousand  persons  present. 
This  ancient  congregation,  undoubtedly  the  oldest 
Unitarian  Society  in  the  world,  is  the  sister  church  of 
King’s  Chapel,  Boston,  and  King’s  Chapel  has  been 
generous  in  its  gifts.  We  were  received  with  very  deep 
feeling. 

After  a  hymn  the  senior  minister,  Mr.  Karoly 
Urmossi,  offered  prayer,  the  men  standing  and  the 
women  sitting  according  to  their  custom.  Then  Dr. 
Boros,  as  Secretary  of  the  Consistory,  welcomed  and 
introduced  H.  S.,  who  preached  from  the  text  “I  am 

*  The  schools  were  not  in  session. 

c  54  ] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor 
principalities,  nor  powers,  nor  things  present,  nor 
things  to  come,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other 
creature,  shall  be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of 
God,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.”  His  sermon 
had  been  summarized  and  printed  in  Hungarian,  and 
as  the  synopsis  was  in  the  hands  of  all  the  congregation 
they  followed  him  without  an  interpreter  and  with  the 
closest  attention.  Quite  a  number  understood  English. 

After  another  hymn  had  been  sung,  L.  C.  delivered 
the  greetings  of  the  Canadian  and  American  churches, 
and  spoke  upon  the  meaning  of  our  visit.  Dr.  Boros 
interpreted.  He  then  addressed  L.  C.  and  announced 
that  by  vote  of  the  Consistory  L.  C.  was  now  made 
Honorary  Chief  Secretary  of  the  Transylvanian  Church 
with  the  privileges  and  authorities  of  the  high  office. 
L.  C.  expressed  his  deep  appreciation  of  the  honor  thus 
done  the  American  churches.  H.  S.  was  then  made  Hon¬ 
orary  Minister  of  the  Kolozsvar  church  and  expressed 
his  appreciation. 

H.  S.  was  asked  to  stand  in  the  open  space  before 
the  pulpit,  together  with  Dean  Urmossi  and  his  assist¬ 
ant,  Rev.  Zoltan  Lorinczi.  Beside  them  sat  the  Pres¬ 
bytery.  Dean  Urmossi  then  presented  H.  S.  with  a 
beautiful  communion-table  cover,  which  the  Kolozsvar 
congregation  desired  him  to  convey  to  the  sister  church, 
King’s  Chapel  in  Boston.  Of  fine,  hand-woven  linen 
and  embroidered  with  gold,  the  communion  cloth  was 
made  by  a  member  of  the  Kolozsvar  congregation 
nearly  three  centuries  ago.  It  is  an  inspiring  reminder 

[55] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

of  the  continuity  of  Unitarian  religious  life  and  faith  in 
storm-swept  Transylvania,  and  no  more  striking  ex¬ 
pression  than  this  gift  could  have  been  given  of  the 
fraternal  feeling  and  gratitude  of  the  church.  The  whole 
occasion  was  deeply  moving  to  all  present. 

It  was  afterwards  arranged  that  a  friend  should 
convey  the  communion  cloth  to  London.  None  of  us 
wished  to  risk  carrying  it  across  Europe,  as  we  feared  it 
might  be  confiscated  at  one  of  the  frontiers.* 

Following  the  service  we  visited  the  parsonage  and 
paid  our  respects  to  Dean  Urmossi,  and  were  then  taken 
to  call  upon  the  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Ferencz.  They  live 
near  the  church  and  College.  Entering  a  modest  gate¬ 
way,  ornamented  by  an  ancient  hatchment,  and  going 
through  a  stone-flagged  passage,  we  went  up  broad 
stairs  into  the  Bishop’s  dwelling.  We  were  shown 
through  two  antechambers  into  the  large  living  room, 
where  several  persons  were  gathered  with  the  Bishop 
and  his  wife. 

Under  any  circumstances  our  meeting  him  would  have 
been  moving;  it  was  now  more  deeply  so.  Frail, —  he 
is  eighty-seven  years  of  age,  —  with  a  calm  face  through 
which  his  spirit  shone,  he  came  forward  to  meet  us  with 
great  simplicity  and  said  “I  cannot  greet  you  as  I  would, 
for  this  afternoon  I  bury  my  son.”  We  replied  that  we 
came  not  as  delegates  but  as  friends  to  mourn  with  him. 
We  were  received  intimately,  almost  as  members  of  the 
family. 

H.  S.  had  dinner  at  the  home  of  Dr.  A.  de  Gyorgyai. 

*  It  is  now  in  Boston,  Massachusetts. 

[56] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

He  and  members  of  his  family  speak  English  well  and 
were  charming  hosts.  Dr.  Gyorgyai  was  professor  of 
surgery  (ear,  nose  and  throat)  at  the  University  of 
Transylvania,  and  when  the  Roumanians  appropriated 
the  property  and  the  University  itself  was  moved  to 
Hungary,  he  returned  to  practice,  but  keeps  up  his 
researches,  and  has  been  responsible  for  some  notable 
improvements  in  apparatus  and  procedure,  being  inter¬ 
nationally  known  for  his  work.  Life  is  not  what  it  was 
for  him  or  his  family,  and  the  future  is  uncertain,  but 
they  were  cheerful  and  brave,  and  testified  to  the 
spiritual  help  they  derived  from  their  Unitarian  faith. 

L.  C.  took  lunch  with  Dr.,  Mrs.  and  Miss  Boros  in  a 
garden  restaurant  in  an  old  palace  yard,  and  then  went 
back  to  the  College. 

In  the  afternoon  H.  S.  and  L.  C.  attended  the  funeral 
of  the  Bishop’s  son  in  the  cemetery  chapel. 

Imagine  a  chapel,  perhaps  fifty  by  twenty-five  feet, 
lighted  by  windows  only  at  the  end  high  above  the 
door,  the  entire  chapel  painted  black  inside,  with  black 
crape  on  the  walls,  and  a  high  black  platform  with 
black  canopy.  Upon  this  platform,  draped  with  lace 
and  surrounded  with  flowers,  was  the  coffin.  At  its  foot 
stood  a  small  table  with  a  few  flowers  on  it.  Down 
either  side  of  the  walls  was  a  single  row  of  chairs.  We 
were  immediately  shown  to  places  next  the  Bishop’s 
family.  A  few  people  stood  behind  the  chairs  and 
against  the  wall,  and  a  few  around  the  door.  The 
service  was  conducted  by  Professor  Csifo,  who  entered 
wearing  his  gown,  and  stood  at  the  foot  of  the  casket, 

[57] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

facing  it.  The  service  consisted  of  a  rather  long  ad¬ 
dress,  delivered  with  great  fluency  and  feeling  —  very 
evidently  a  eulogy  —  and  a  long  prayer.  The  casket 
was  then  carried  out  of  the  chapel  by  men  in  black,  and 
placed  in  a  hearse  drawn  by  four  horses.  The  Bishop, 
his  wife,  the  widow  and  her  children,  and  intimate 
friends  walked  behind  the  hearse.  Dr.  Boros  had  ex¬ 
plained  that  we  should  not  be  expected  to  go  to  the 
grave,  as  it  might  mean  standing  at  least  for  two  hours 
in  the  cemetery.  We  therefore  walked  away  after  the 
funeral  procession  had  started.  We  were  told  that  more 
than  a  thousand  persons  followed  the  hearse  to  the 
grave. 

We  waited  at  the  College  for  Professor  Csifo,  and 
went  with  him  late  in  the  afternoon  to  the  Countess 
Teleki’s  for  tea.  A  word  of  explanation  should  be  given 
concerning  these  friends.  The  Countess  is  an  American, 
born  in  San  Francisco,  educated  in  Germany,  and  was 
formerly  the  Baroness  Kemeny.  Some  ten  years  after 
the  Baron’s  death  she  married  Count  Teleki.  He  is  one 
of  the  best-known  Hungarian  noblemen  in  Transyl¬ 
vania.  He  owned  large  estates,  which  he  brought  to  a 
high  degree  of  productiveness,  and  won  prizes  for  horti¬ 
culture  and  agriculture  in  the  Paris  Exhibition  and 
other  international  gatherings.  He  is  widely  known 
in  Europe  for  successful  irrigational  engineering.  He  is 
a  man  of  the  highest  character  and  a  great  worker.  His 
estates  have  been  confiscated,  his  beautiful  home  re¬ 
duced  to  a  ruin,  and  he  possesses  to-day  only  a  fragment 
of  his  former  property.  We  found  the  Count  and 

[58] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

Countess  living  in  a  peasant’s  house  of  three  rooms, 
adjacent  to  a  small  spinning  factory  owned  by  the 
Count.  They  received  us  most  cordially,  and  we  had  a 
delightful  two  hours  with  them  and  with  the  Misses 
Kemeny,  daughters  of  the  Countess.  We  discussed 
many  questions  concerning  the  future  of  Transylvania 
and  the  churches.  The  Count,  a  Presbyterian,  is  a 
liberal,  and  in  sympathy  with  his  wife’s  Unitarian  faith. 
The  Countess  has  been  of  great  service  to  our  churches 
ever  since  the  Roumanian  occupation. 

July  22-23,  l9 22*  L.  R.  and  P.  P.  were  asked  to  visit 
Szekelykeresztur,  in  the  heart  of  Szekely-land,  the  seat 
of  the  three  colleges.  The  occasion  was  the  dedication 
of  two  new  church  bells,  and  it  was  to  be  a  gala  day  for 
the  whole  district.  There  was  some  debate  over  the 
wisdom  of  accepting  the  invitation,  since  we  were  told 
that  the  gathering  was  likely  to  take  on  a  strongly  polit¬ 
ical  tone.  L.  R.  and  P.  P.  finally  decided,  however,  to 
make  the  trip.  Accordingly,  the  party,  including 
Professor  Galfi  as  interpreter,  started  directly  after 
lunch  from  Kolozsvar  for  the  five  hours’  motor  drive. 
Professor  Galfi,  who  teaches  Old  Testament  in  the 
divinity  school  and  is  a  graduate  of  Manchester  College, 
Oxford,  was  a  delightful  companion.  He  is  a  strong, 
virile  type  of  scholar,  with  a  keen  sense  of  humor. 

It  was  a  beautiful  day,  and  the  journey  gave  us  a 
continuous  series  of  fine  views  over  the  rich  and  varied 
countryside.  We  passed  great  numbers  of  peasants, 
leading  their  little  carts  from  the  fields,  and  it  was  easy 
to  distinguish  between  the  Roumanian  type  and  the 

[59] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

Hungarian.  It  was  near  evening  when  we  finally- 
reached  our  destination.  We  drew  up  in  front  of  the 
College,  a  splendidly  impressive  modern  building,  com¬ 
pleted  just  before  the  war,  where  a  flower  and  flag- 
trimmed  arch  had  been  set  up.  Standing  there  in  the 
road,  we  were  greeted  by  the  minister,  Stephen  Lorinczi, 
a  benign  old  pastor,  in  his  flowing  gown;  by  the  director 
of  the  College,  a  stalwart  gentleman  with  a  close- 
cropped  head,  and  by  a  lady  dressed  all  in  black,  who 
presented  us  with  a  great  bouquet.  All  three  speeches 
were  fervently  impassioned,  and  our  interpreter  said 
that  there  were  many  things  which  he  would  report  to 
us  later.  He  never  did. 

After  this  little  ceremony  we  went  into  the  College, 
where  we  were  to  lodge  for  the  night.  Beds  had  been 
set  up  in  the  large  faculty  room,  the  walls  of  which  were 
lined  with  portraits.  There  followed  an  interval  of  two 
hours  in  a  sort  of  anteroom  crowded  with  men  and 
filled  with  tobacco  smoke,  when  all  talked  at  once  and 
appeared  to  us  to  be  very  much"  excited.  Nothing  was 
translated,  and  to  this  day  we  do  not  know  just  what 
was  going  on.  We  are  inclined  to  believe  that  there  was 
some  resentment  over  our  stipulation  that  we  should 
report  our  presence  and  friendly  intentions  to  the 
Roumanian  authorities  of  the  village. 

About  ten  o’clock  we  were  escorted  a  short  distance 
to  the  old  buildings  of  the  College,  near  the  church. 
Here,  in  a  low-studded,  candle-lighted  room,  we  sat 
down  to  supper.  There  were  perhaps  twenty  men 
present,  ministers  from  the  neighborhood,  teachers  in 

[60] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

the  College,  and  four  young  theological  students.  We 
had  a  simple  supper  and  much  good  talk,  with  constant 
play  of  wit  between  Mr.  Jozan  and  Professor  Galfi. 
At  least  half  of  those  present  spoke  English. 

This  supper  was  followed  by  an  extremely  pretty 
incident.  We  came  out  of  the  room  on  to  a  high  ve¬ 
randa.  There  below  us  in  the  dark  school  yard  was  a 
group  of  men  and  boys,  twenty-four  in  all.  It  was  the 
village  band  come  to  serenade  us.  They  stood  in  a 
circle  with  their  instruments  and  music-racks.  At  in¬ 
tervals  small  boys  held  up  flaring  candles,  the  only  light. 
It  was  an  unforgettable  picture.  The  musicians  played 
three  or  four  selections  with  vigor  and  enthusiasm,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  little  concert,  Professor  Galfi  expressed 
to  them  our  thanks  and  congratulations.  They  were 
farmers  and  farmers’  boys,  who  found  time,  under  wise 
leadership,  to  practice  together  and  thus  keep  alive  an 
interest  outside  their  daily  routine. 

Sunday  morning  after  breakfast  with  Pastor  Lo- 
rinczi,  and  one  or  two  others,  we  went  to  the  head¬ 
quarters  of  police,  and  made  ourselves  known  to  the 
Prefect.  He  was  an  agreeable  and  quite  polished 
gentleman,  who  gave  us  a  courteous  reception.  The 
hour  for  morning  service  was  eleven  o’clock,  and  when 
we  reached  the  church  a  great  crowd  had  gathered  in 
the  high-walled  church  yard.  Many  of  the  women 
were  in  costume;  there  were  swarms  of  children,  and  the 
atmosphere  was  distinctly  festive. 

The  crowd,  numbering  a  thousand,  began  to  pour 
into  the  church,  which  had  the  appearance  of  great  age, 

[61] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

and  was,  in  fact,  built  before  the  Reformation.  It  com¬ 
prised  a  nave  and  one  very  wide  and  deep  transept, 
opposite  which  stood  the  high  pulpit.  Across  the  end 
of  the  transept  was  the  organ  gallery,  filled  with  boys 
and  young  men,  and  at  both  ends  of  the  nave  were 
galleries  for  the  children.  The  seats  on  the  floor  of  the 
transept  were  occupied  by  men;  those  in  the  nave  by 
women.  There  was  a  paneled  ceiling,  three  hundred 
years  old,  painted  in  the  crude  manner  characteristic  of 
Szekely  art.  Montreal  is  the  sister  church. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  occasion  was  a  service  to 
dedicate  two  new  bells,  bought  at  great  sacrifice  by  the 
people  to  replace  those  lost  during  the  war.  As  one 
man  said,  “We  felt  we  had  no  church  when  we  had  no 
bells.”  In  every  respect,  then,  it  was  a  joyous  service, 
with  extra  music;  and  the  tides  of  emotion  were  running 
deep  in  all  hearts.  Mr.  Jozan,  our  Unitarian  minister 
from  Budapest,  highly  esteemed  and  much  beloved  in 
Transylvania,  was  the  preacher.  His  sermon,  even  to 
us  who  could  not  understand  his  words,  was  of  great 
beauty  and  power.  When  near  its  end  he  pointed  to¬ 
ward  the  belfry,  and  the  deep-toned  bell  rang  out,  soon 
answered  by  the  higher  one,  and  then  both  clanged 
together,  we  caught  the  meaning  of  the  Latin  he  was 
quoting:  “  Vivos  voco ,  mortuos  plango,  fulgura  frango .” 
The  congregation  was  very  deeply  affected. 

After  the  sermon,  P.  P.  went  to  the  pulpit  and  spoke 
a  few  words  of  greeting  and  cheer,  and  then  he  and 
L.  R.  held  a  baptismal  service.  Three  babies,  a  boy  and 
two  girls,  all  less  than  six  months  old,  were  brought  into 

[62] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

the  church,  not  by  their  parents,  but  by  their  god¬ 
mothers.  L.  R.  christened  Denes,  and  P.  P.  Anna  and 
Irene.  In  Transylvania  it  is  the  custom  for  the  minister 
to  pour  water  from  the  chalice  on  the  child’s  head  while 
the  nurse  still  holds  it.  The  fact  that  L.  R.  and  P.  P. 
took  the  children  in  their  arms  and  sprinkled  the  water 
was  apparently  very  impressive  to  those  present.  Many 
spoke  of  it,  and  it  was  even  mentioned  in  a  newspaper 
account  of  the  event. 

After  the  service  and  a  call  at  the  parsonage,  where 
we  saw  among  others  the  aged  mother  of  our  friend, 
Mr.  Csiki,  we  were  told  that  some  friends  wished  to 
meet  us  at  the  College.  Arrived  there,  we  found  that 
no  less  than  seven  delegations  were  prepared  to  address 
us.  L.  R.  and  P.  P.  stood  at  the  end  of  the  long  faculty 
room,  while  these  delegations  entered  in  turn  from  the 
corridor,  greeted  us  through  their  spokesmen,  and  then 
withdrew.  We  took  turns  in  replying.  There  were  the 
town  officials,  the  Presbyterians,  the  Roman  Catholics, 
the  ministers’  wives,  the  Presbytery  of  the  local  church, 
the  teachers  of  the  College,  and  the  ministers  of  the 
district.  This  ceremony  lasted  one  hour  and  a  half. 
At  its  conclusion,  we  walked  to  a  great  hall  in  the  vil¬ 
lage,  where  three  hundred  persons  had  gathered  for 
luncheon.  We  sat  at  the  head  table,  and  were  in¬ 
terested  to  find  the  Roumanian  Prefect  of  Police  among 
the  honored  guests.  We  were  told  that  because  of  the 
Bishop’s  bereavement  there  would  be  no  formal  toasts, 
but  each  of  us  spoke  briefly,  and  there  was  much  in¬ 
formal  toasting  and  interchange  of  compliments. 

[63] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

At  half-past  four  we  excused  ourselves  and  were 
driven  to  the  railway  station,  a  small  group  following 
to  bid  us  farewell.  Perhaps  an  hour’s  ride  on  the  train 
brought  us  to  Segesvar,  a  Saxon  town  with  a  high 
citadel  crowned  by  mediaeval  church  and  castle.  There 
is  a  very  small  congregation  in  this  place,  meeting  in  a 
modest  little  prayer  hall,  merely  one  room  of  the  par¬ 
sonage.  Here  at  the  call  of  the  bell  a  dozen  people 
gathered.  The  minister’s  wife  led  the  singing  at  the 
parlor  organ,  L.  R.  made  a  prayer,  and  the  minister 
greeted  us  with  deep  feeling.  P.  P.  replied,  and  spoke 
of  the  American  sister  church  in  Milton,  Massachusetts. 
After  the  simple  service,  we  spent  an  hour  with  the 
family  of  five  interesting  children,  and  were  impressed 
by  the  unselfish  devotion  and  brave  spirit  of  these 
consecrated  people. 

At  eight  o’clock  we  took  the  train  for  Kolozsvar,  no 
miles  distant.  The  less  said  about  the  journey  the 
better.  Delay,  dirt,  vermin,  heat  and  total  darkness 
made  the  eight-hour  ride  a  veritable  nightmare.  We 
were  relieved  to  reach  our  destination  in  the  dawn,  at 
four-thirty  Monday  morning. 

It  ought  to  be  said  that  beneath  all  the  festivity  and 
cheerfulness  at  Szekelykeresztur  there  was  a  deep 
undercurrent  of  sadness,  if  not  despair.  The  great 
College  is  cut  off  from  its  State  support,  and  finds  it 
difficult  to  keep  in  proper  condition  for  its  work,  as  the 
people  are  not  able  to  pay  a  higher  rate  of  tuition.  The 
church  had  lost  some  of  its  woodland,  upon  which  it 
had  partially  depended  for  support.  The  whole  feeling 

[64] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

expressed  to  us  by  a  number  of  people  was  that  the 
Roumanian  State  was  determined  to  oppress  in  these 
subtle  ways  the  minority  population  of  this  ancient 
village.  Roman  Catholics,  Presbyterians  and  Uni¬ 
tarians  alike,  all  are  living  in  constant  fear  of  the  danger 
which  threatens  their  cherished  institutions,  their 
culture  and  their  religion. 

Monday,  July  24th.  In  the  late  afternoon,  L.  R.  and 
L.  C.  called  upon  the  British  Consul,  Mr.  Charles 
Goodwin.  His  wife  is  an  American.  The  Consulate  is 
a  pleasing  building,  and  the  cool,  well-furnished  interior 
was  very  inviting.  Mr.  Goodwin  was  most  cordial  and 
helpful.  He  took  us,  at  our  suggestion,  to  call  upon 
the  Roumanian  Prefect.  Mr.  Goodwin’s  presence  en¬ 
abled  us  to  have  an  immediate  interview  instead  of  a 
long  period  of  waiting  in  antechambers.  The  Prefect 
was  a  Roumanian  officer,  heavily  built,  and  of  Germanic 
type.  Mr.  Goodwin  translated  the  conversation.  The 
Prefect  gave  us  a  cordial  welcome.  He  said  he  would  be 
glad  to  help  us  in  any  way  he  could.  He  expressed  his 
surprise  that  there  was  more  than  one  denomination  in 
Transylvania.  In  Roumania  they  had  only  the  Greek 
Catholic  Church,  and  he  said  we  must  give  the  Rou¬ 
manians  a  little  time  to  get  used  to  having  more  than 
one  denomination!  He  asked  if  we  had  more  than  one 
in  the  United  States.  Our  impression  of  this  Prefect 
was  pleasant  enough.  He  illustrated  what  seemed  to 
us  to  be  the  root  of  much  of  the  whole  colossal  difficulty. 
He  was  ignorant  of  the  very  elements  of  the  diversities 
inherent  in  modern  civilization.  Without  necessarily 

[65] 


6 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

meaning  to  be  brutal  or  repressive,  his  ignorance  would 
leave  him  so  unaware  of  the  very  rudiments  of  free¬ 
dom  and  diversity,  both  for  individuals  and  institu¬ 
tions,  as  to  make  him  in  effect  a  harsh  ru]er.  We  heard 
nothing  alleged  against  this  man  personally.  He  quoted 
the  Crown  Prince  as  having  said  that  it  was  also  new  to 
him  to  have  more  than  one  denomination  in  the  country. 

In  this  connection,  it  should  be  mentioned  that  the 
Crown  Prince  was  in  Cluj  on  the  Friday  and  Saturday, 
the  21  st  and  22nd,  and  that  he  invited  the  Bishops 
(Lutheran,  Presbyterian,  Roman  Catholic  and  Uni¬ 
tarian),  to  luncheon  with  him;  owing  to  his  son’s  death, 
Bishop  Ferencz  did  not  attend.  We  were  told  that  it 
was  believed  in  Cluj  that  this  recognition  by  the  Crown 
Prince  was  due  to  our  presence  both  in  Bucharest  and 
Cluj.  It  was  believed  that  the  Ministers  in  Bucharest 
thought  a  courtesy  shown  to  the  Bishops  when  we  would 
know  of  it  was  desirable.  It  seemed  to  us  exceedingly 
improbable  that  our  mission  was  of  sufficient  importance 
to  reach  the  knowledge  of  the  Crown  Prince;  but  we 
were  assured  that  our  visit  would  be  considered  of  great 
importance  in  Bucharest.  We  have,  of  course,  no  way 
of  judging  whether  or  no  this  impression  had  any  basis 
in  fact.  The  Bishop  told  us  that  he  was  a  far  more  im¬ 
portant  person  in  the  eyes  of  the  Roumanians  after 
they  knew  that  he  had  friends  in  England  and  America. 

We  lunched  with  Professors  Boros  and  Galfi  in  the 
restaurant  of  the  Old  Palace  Garden.  After  this,  L.  C. 
called  upon  Dr.  Atkinson,  who  had  arrived  at  the  New 
York  Hotel,  Cluj,  and  had  an  hour’s  conference  with 

[66] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

him  before  meeting  the  representatives  of  the  Con¬ 
sistory  at  four  o’clock.  There  were  present  Bishop 
Ferencz  and  Baron  Horvath  (Lay-President  of  the 
Consistory),  Bishop  Nagy,  Canon  Balars,  representing 
the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop,  and  himself  Supervisor  of 
Roman  Catholic  education;  a  lay  representative  of  the 
Lutheran  Church;  Dr.  Boros,  Mr.  Kovacs  (secretary 
to  the  Bishop),  Professor  Csifo,  Professor  Galfi,  Judge 
Toth,  and  others. 

Bishop  Nagy  and  Canon  Balars  did  most  of  the  talk¬ 
ing;  Bishop  Ferencz,  Dr.  Boros,  Professor  Csifo  and 
others  joining  in  the  presentation  of  many  aspects  of 
the  present  Transylvanian  situation.  Their  testimony 
in  substance  was  as  follows: 

The  personal  abuse,  floggings  and  other  brutalities, 
had  largely  ceased.  While  reports  state  that  occasional 
beatings  and  imprisonments  still  occur,  all  agreed  that 
this  phase  of  brutal  treatment  of  the  population  by  the 
officials  and  gendarmes  had  ended.  They  believed  that 
the  Roumanian  government  had  found  it  an  ineffective 
method  of  subduing  the  people  and  had  discontinued  it. 

Despite  more  settled  conditions,  all  agreed  that  never 
were  the  institutions  of  the  four  denominations,  Lu¬ 
theran,  Presbyterian,  Roman  Catholic  and  Unitarian, 
in  such  peril. 

It  is  true  that  the  clergy  are  being  supported  by  the 
State.  They  are  not  receiving  as  much  as  previously, 
and  their  payment  is  irregular,  a  payment  due  in  April 
having  been  received  in  August  while  we  were  there. 
By  some  it  was  alleged  that  this  was  because  of  our 

[67] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 


presence.  (Again,  we  doubted  whether  our  coming  had 
anything  to  do  with  this.)  Yet  restrictive  measures 
are  being  taken,  which,  if  carried  out,  will  ruin  these 
denominations  in  Transylvania. 

First:  an  order  has  been  given  that  all  churches  having 
less  than  three  hundred  confirmed  members  shall  re¬ 
ceive  no  support  from  the  State.*  This  order  withdraws 
support  from  twenty-seven  per  cent  of  the  Unitarian 
churches,  from  about  the  same  per  cent  of  the  Roman 
Catholic,  from  somewhat  less  of  the  Presbyterian  and 
Lutheran,  a  total  average  of  twenty-five  per  cent  re¬ 
duction  in  the  congregations  of  the  four  denominations. 
There  is  no  possibility  whatever  that  the  congregations 
can  survive  if  the  State  support  of  the  ministers  is  with¬ 
drawn.  Further,  the  number  three  hundred  may  at  any 
time  be  changed.  If  congregations  of  three  hundred 
members  can  be  arbitrarily  suppressed,  what  assurance 
is  there  for  the  others?  Further  still,  it  is  alleged  that 
the  order  will  never  be  applied  to  the  Greek  Catholic 
churches.  Its  effect  in  many  villages  will  be  to  close 
the  minority  churches  and  to  drive  the  entire  population 
into  the  Greek  Catholic  Church.  If  the  inhabitants  of 
such  villages  desire  any  church  services,  and  all  Tran¬ 
sylvanian  people  observe  baptism,  marriage,  funeral 
service  and  communion,  they  would  be  obliged  to  turn 
to  the  ministry  of  the  Greek  Church.  Even  if  the  order 
is  sent  to  the  Greek  churches,  all  were  agreed  that  in 
their  case  it  will  never  be  enforced.  Second,  all  minor¬ 
ity  church  endowments  are  being  confiscated.  It  is  to 


*See  order  of  Roumanian  government,  p.  149. 


[68] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

be  remembered  that  the  only  form  of  endowment 
known  in  Transylvania  is  land.  The  Agrarian  Reform 
Law  passed  by  the  Roumanian  government  looks  to 
the  division  of  the  estates  of  the  nobles  into  small  farm 
holdings.  On  paper  the  law  appears  plausible,  if  not 
eminently  desirable.  Exceptional  instances,  like  Count 
Teleki’s,  might  be  cited  in  support  of  the  old  regime,  but 
the  ownership  of  vast  areas  by  a  few  individuals  is 
difficult  to  defend.  In  practice,  however,  the  law  does 
not  work  justly.  While  it  is  alleged  that  the  land  is  to 
be  paid  for,  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  prices  at  which  it  is 
assessed  are  the  prices  of  1914.  This  means,  in  the 
present  deflated  currency,  that  property  worth  many 
thousands  of  lei  is  appraised  at  hundreds  of  lei.  This  is 
confiscation. 

The  Agrarian  Reform  Law  is  applied  to  the  land  en¬ 
dowments  of  all  minority  educational  and  denomina¬ 
tional  institutions,  to  the  colleges,  schools  and  parishes. 
In  the  parishes,  the  land  is  the  principal  church  support. 
Each  parish  owns  an  acreage  for  the  minister  and 
teachers,  and  a  piece  of  forest  from  which  it  cuts  and 
sells  wood  for  their  maintenance.  In  many  instances, 
these  lands  have  already  been  taken  away,  and  except 
for  the  American  help  many  churches  would  now  be 
ruined.  The  land  endowment  of  the  colleges  has  largely 
been  confiscated,  and  except  for  the  help  of  the  British 
churches  the  colleges,  the  Consistory  and  Bishop  could 
not  continue. 

We  return  now  to  the  statement  made  by  Bishop 
Nagy  and  others.  If  this  confiscatory  policy  of  the 

[69] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

Roumanian  government  cannot  be  stayed  or  changed, 
then  the  institutions  deriving  their  living  in  large  part 
from  endowment  obviously  cannot  continue.  It  ap¬ 
peared  to  be  granted  by  those  present  at  the  council 
meeting  that  some  kind  of  agrarian  reform  was  desir¬ 
able;  but  they  believed  that  any  just  law  should 
discriminate  in  favor  of  educational  and  religious  insti¬ 
tutions,  and  that  a  reasonable  endowment  for  these 
public  purposes  should  be  conserved  instead  of  de¬ 
stroyed. 

There  is  attached  to  this  report  the  order  received  by 
Bishop  Ferencz  limiting  the  number  of  parishioners  in 
the  Unitarian  parishes  receiving  State  support.  The 
order  was  sent  to  the  officials  of  all  minority  denomina¬ 
tions.  We  were  informed  that  on  receipt  of  this  order 
the  Roman  Catholic  and  Presbyterian  Churches  pro¬ 
tested.  No  answer  to  their  protest  has  been  received. 

Here  we  touch  upon  another  form  of  oppression. 
The  courts  do  not  give  their  decisions  in  writing.  Ap¬ 
parently,  the  most  that  can  be  gained  by  a  protest  is  a 
postponement,  which  may  be  indefinite  or  brief.  And, 
further,  the  courts  issue  no  summons,  sending  no  mes¬ 
sage  whatever  to  the  Consistory  as  to  the  date  when 
the  affairs  of  the  Consistory  will  be  considered.  The 
Consistory  must  employ  people  to  watch  in  the  courts 
to  see  when  the  question  of  lands  belonging  to  the  Con¬ 
sistory  is  to  be  taken  up.  This  statement  is  true  not 
only  of  the  affairs  of  the  Consistory,  but  of  every  in¬ 
stitution  and  individual.  It  was  said  to  us  repeatedly, 
“Remember,  there  is  no  law  in  Roumania,  and  there 

[70] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

are  no  courts!”  It  was  meant  that  the  courts  are  so 
uncertain  and  follow  methods  so  peculiar  as  to  render 
them  unworthy  of  the  name. 

The  council  meeting  extended  until  after  eight 
o’clock,  and  adjourned  to  meet  at  ten  on  Tuesday 
morning. 

Dr.  Atkinson  promised  to  report  to  the  meeting  of  the 
World  Peace  Commission  at  Copenhagen,  the  order 
from  the  Roumanian  government  limiting  future  pay¬ 
ments  to  churches  of  three  hundred  or  more  communi¬ 
cants,  which  he  felt  was  a  direct  violation  of  the  Treaty 
provisions. 

We  dined  in  the  Palace  Garden  Restaurant.  P.  P. 
and  L.  C.  joined  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Atkinson  for  coffee  and 
talked  at  length  about  the  Balkan  problem. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  July  25th,  the  Conference  re¬ 
convened,  Bishop  Ferencz  presiding.  Bishop  Nagy  and 
Canon  Andras  Balars  were  present,  and  were  accom¬ 
panied  by  other  representatives  of  their  churches. 
Canon  Balars  is  in  charge  of  all  educational  matters 
relating  to  the  Roman  Catholic  diocese  of  Transylvania. 
Dr.  Boros  acted  as  interpreter.  Dr.  Henry  Atkinson 
and  H.  S.  were  the  Americans  present.  The  other 
members  of  the  Commission  were  prevented  from 
attending  as  will  be  explained  later.  From  the  state¬ 
ments  made  and  the  questions  answered  the  following 
facts  stand  out: 

1.  The  expropriation  of  church  and  school  properties 
is  proceeding,  but  no  more  than  the  actual  equivalent 
of  one  year’s  income,  from  200  to  1000  lei,  is  paid  per 

[71] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

acre.  In  consequence  the  church  people  of  all  denom¬ 
inations  will  find  themselves  unable  to  aid  the  churches 
and  schools.  (Nagy) 

2.  The  Roumanians  oblige  all  institutions  and  firms 
(industrial,  commercial,  financial,  etc.)  to  allow  more 
than  half  of  their  shares  to  be  bought  by  Roumanians. 
The  president  of  each  concern  must  be  a  Roumanian. 
The  result  is  that  Hungarians  lose  their  possessions  and 
their  incomes,  and  cannot  assist  churches  and  schools 
as  before.  (Nagy) 

3.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Transylvania  had 
26,000  acres  for  the  support  of  educational  institutions. 
From  this  source  it  was  able  to  support  seven  gymna¬ 
siums  and  seven  boarding  schools;  it  was  also  able  to 
aid  parishes  in  rebuilding  churches  and  parsonages.  If 
the  Agrarian  Reform  is  carried  out,  the  church  will  re¬ 
ceive  not  more  than  five  per  cent  of  its  whole  former 
income,  and  only  one  of  the  gymnasiums  and  one  of  the 
schools  will  be  maintained.  (Balars) 

4.  The  Reformed  Church  has  had  14,000  acres  taken 
away  out  of  about  21,000.  This  church  had  nine  gym¬ 
nasiums,  and  nine  boarding  schools.  It  faces  the  same 
results  as  are  faced  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  In 
the  case  of  Batlan  College,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
part  of  the  estate  was  bought  with  English  money  sent 
over  by  Queen  Anne.  (Nagy) 

5.  The  Unitarians  possessed  6887  acres  in  the  form 
of  special  endowment,  and  the  whole  of  this  property 
is  taken.  (This  is  exclusive  of  the  small  properties  to  be 
left  for  the  congregations).  (Boros) 

[72] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

6.  The  denominational  or  Confessional  schools  are 
closed  on  different  pretexts. 

(a)  Salary  of  the  teacher  now  paid  by  the  church  is  de¬ 

clared  inadequate. 

(b)  The  rooms  which  the  congregations  are  using  for 

school  purposes  (their  own  schools  having  been 
taken  by  the  State)  are  declared  not  large  enough. 

(c)  Buildings  have  been  taken  for  other  uses  by  the  State. 

E.g.,  the  Reformed  High  School  for  girls  had  a  fine 
building  which  was  occupied  as  a  hospital  for  con¬ 
tagious  diseases;  very  recently  the  building  tempo¬ 
rarily  used  was  closed  by  order  of  the  authorities. 
This  case  is  to  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
Ring. 

(d)  In  Hermannstadt  the  authorities  have  occupied  the 

Roman  Catholic  Orphan  School  which  formerly 
housed  200  children.  This  was  an  1 8 th  century 
establishment.  Eighteen  Roman  Catholic  orphans 
were  left  in  a  corner  of  the  building  and  the  other 
part  has  been  used  for  Roumanian  orphans.  (Balars) 

7.  Dr.  Atkinson  remarked  that  M.  Angelescu  (Min¬ 
ister  of  Education)  had  said  that  the  teachers  were 
unable  or  refused  to  teach  the  Roumanian  language 
according  to  Roumanian  standards,  and  further  that 
the  Department  of  Education  had  arranged  for  summer 
courses  under  the  University  of  Bucharest,  announce¬ 
ment  of  which  was  sent  to  every  teacher  formerly  em¬ 
ployed  by  Hungary.  Those  who  qualified  would  be 
given  certificates  and  recognized  as  Roumanian  teachers. 
Dr.  Atkinson  asked  how  many  former  Hungarian 
teachers  had  attended.  The  reply  was:  “From  the 

[73  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

Reformed  Church  about  300  in  different  courses.”  It 
was  pointed  out  that  elementary  teachers  are  not  re¬ 
quired  actually  to  teach  the  Roumanian  language  in 
elementary  classes,  and  that  to  enforce  their  study  of 
the  language  is  a  hardship.  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church  did  not  send  teachers  to  Bucharest,  on  the 
ground  of  the  excessive  cost  of  travel  and  living.  For 
the  great  majority  of  teachers  these  expenses  are  abso¬ 
lutely  prohibitive.  Teachers  can,  however,  study  at 
home  and  be  examined  in  September.  The  present  gov¬ 
ernment  is  demanding  French  instead  of  English  as  the 
additional  language  in  the  schools.  This  works  a  hard¬ 
ship  in  the  Unitarian  and  Reformed  Churches,  since 
it  is  calculated  in  time  to  detach  them  all  from  their 
intimate  connections  with  their  co-religionists  in 
Britain  and  America. 

Tuesday,  July  25th.  At  9:30  o’clock  L.  R.,  P.  P.  and 
L.  C.  went  to  police  headquarters  to  secure  the  endorse¬ 
ment  of  our  passports,  necessary  before  leaving  Koloz- 
svar,  on  our  way  to  the  Conference  at  the  Consistory. 
We  were  accompanied  by  the  secretary  of  the  British 
Consul.  The  room  was  filled  with  people.  Although 
several  officials  were  present  we  were  kept  waiting 
needlessly  for  two  hours.  L.  R.  and  P.  P.  during  the 
last  part  of  the  time  were  standing  in  front  of  a  desk, 
waiting  for  the  final  signatures  to  be  placed  on  the 
passports.  We  were  all  justly  angered  at  the  insolent 
behavior  of  the  young  man  at  the  desk,  who  obviously 
was  waiting  for  us  to  bribe  him.  In  turning  to  speak 
to  P.  P.,  L.  R.  upset  an  inkwell,  sending  the  ink  over 

[74] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

the  books  and  papers  on  the  desk,  and  spattering  it 
upon  the  clothing  of  the  young  official.  The  extra¬ 
ordinary  result  was  that  he  wilted  as  if  corrected  by  a 
superior  officer.  He  was  almost  in  tears,  and  after 
blotting  his  clothes,  left  the  room.  Another  official 
at  once  attended  to  us,  and  we  were  shown  every 
courtesy. 

By  our  needless  detention  we  missed  the  adjourned 
Conference  at  which  H.  S.  and  Dr.  Atkinson  were 
present.  We  did  not  reach  the  building  until  after  the 
committee  had  broken  up.  On  our  way  back  to  the 
College,  we  passed  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Atkinson  going  to  the 
train.  H.  S.  had  already  gone,  and  to  our  great  regret 
we  did  not  see  him  again. 

At  five  o’clock  L.  R.,  P.  P.  and  L.  C.  went  to  the 
Count  and  Countess  Teleki’s  for  tea.  While  the  Count 
talked  with  the  others  concerning  general  conditions, 
L.  C.  had  a  long  talk  with  the  Countess  about  Unitarian 
matters.  She  begged  that  something  be  done  about  the 
girls’  lodging  place  in  the  College.  We  told  her  that  we 
would  consider  the  need  and  do  what  we  could,  but 
could  give  her  little  encouragement.  In  the  evening 
L.  R.  and  L.  C.  dined  together  in  the  Palace  Garden 
Restaurant,  and  P.  P.  joined  us  somewhat  later. 

Wednesday,  July  26th.  We  held  a  long  meeting  in 
the  Bishop’s  office.  There  were  present  the  Bishop,  his 
secretary,  Mr.  Kovacs,  the  treasurer,  Mr.  Hadhazy, 
and  Professors  Boros  and  Csifo.  The  meeting  was 
wholly  concerned  with  the  business  of  the  American 
Relief  Committee,  and  centred  on  two  points:  first, 

[75] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

Mr.  Csiki’s  return  to  Kolozsvar;  and  second,  the  sending 
of  money  from  America  to  Transylvania. 

Following  this  meeting,  L.  R.,  P.  P.  and  L.  C.  walked 
with  Dr.  Boros  to  his  garden,  about  an  acre  in  extent,  on 
the  shoulder  of  a  high  hill.  Here  Mrs.  Boros  and  Miss 
Boros  met  us  and  we  had  tea  at  a  charming  spot  looking 
out  over  the  city,  with  a  convent  in  the  foreground 
below  us.  We  stayed  until  the  twilight  had  turned  to 
darkness,  and  then  walked  back  with  our  hosts  to  their 
lodgings. 

Before  the  Roumanian  occupation  this  family  lived 
in  their  own  beautiful  home,  one  of  the  best  houses  in 
the  city.  It  has  been  taken  away  from  them  and  is 
occupied  by  a  Roumanian  army  officer  of  high  rank. 
They  are  not  even  allowed  one  room  in  it.  Six  times 
Dr.  Boros  had  obtained  orders  from  the  Bucharest 
government  to  the  local  officials  in  Kolozsvar  to  give 
the  Boros  family  at  least  part  of  their  house,  and  the 
orders  have  been  entirely  disregarded.  It  was  said  to 
Dr.  Boros  that  if  he  would  pay  a  considerable  sum  of 
money  to  the  local  officials  he  could  have  back  part  of 
his  house.  He  refused.  There  is  no  justification  what¬ 
ever  in  the  Treaty  provisions,  nor  is  there  any  legal 
sanction,  for  such  robbery.  It  is  wholly  arbitrary.  We 
considered  protesting  to  the  Prefect  in  Dr.  Boros’s 
behalf  and  explaining  how  bad  an  impression  keeping 
him  and  his  family  out  of  their  house  has  made  in 
England  and  America.  We  decided  against  such  action 
fearing  to  make  conditions  harder  for  the  Boros  family 
after  we  had  gone. 


[76] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

Thursday,  July  27th.  We  left  at  nine  o’clock  by  auto¬ 
mobile  for  a  trip  in  Szekely-land.  Many  of  the  villages 
are  not  on  the  railroad.  Where  there  is  railroad  connec¬ 
tion  the  trains  are  most  infrequent.  We  secured  a 
Ford  car  with  a  good  chauffeur,  a  young  Roumanian. 
Throughout  the  trip  Dr.  Boros  sat  on  the  front  seat  to 
act  as  guide.  P.  P.,  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  took  the  back  seat. 
The  four  bags  were  placed  on  the  running  boards.  The 
car  gave  no  trouble  throughout  the  trip.  We  drove 
through  the  countryside  until  twelve  o’clock,  when  we 
reached  Dicsoszentmarton.  A  mile  or  two  out  of  the 
town  we  were  met  by  a  committee  of  welcome  in  another 
Ford  car.  They  made  us  speeches  and  presented  us 
with  flowers.  We  followed  them  rather  slowly,  enjoying 
lovely  vistas  across  the  valley  as  we  descended  a  long 
hillside  through  vineyards  into  the  town,  a  place  of 
considerable  size.  The  parsonage  and  church  stood  on 
a  side  street,  up  an  ascent  towards  the  great  hill.  As 
we  turned  the  corner  into  this  side  street,  a  large 
gathering  awaiting  us  cheered.  As  soon  as  we  got  out 
of  the  car  at  the  gate,  the  minister  Guido  Bela,  the 
genial  Dean  of  the  district,  met  us  and  made  a  speech  of 
welcome.  We  were  given  bouquets.  This  church  is  the 
sister  church  of  Weston.  The  Dean  greeted  us  all 
cordially,  but  when  he  learned  that  P.  P.  was  no  other 
than  the  minister  of  Weston,  he  took  him  in  his  arms 
and  kissed  him.  We  went  into  the  parsonage,  a  large 
house  with  a  big  central  room  and  rooms  opening  off 
it;  in  the  large  room  a  table  had  been  set  with  refresh¬ 
ments.  We  had  cake  and  light  wine.  We  were  given 

[77] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

time  to  freshen  up  after  our  dusty  ride.  L.  C.  went  into 
the  courtyard  through  the  kitchen,  a  long,  white  room 
with  bare  white  floor.  Beside  the  open  fire  on  a  low 
stool  sat  a  young  peasant  mother,  nursing  her  baby,  a 
Madonnalike  picture.  The  whole  setting  would  have 
delighted  an  artist.  We  went  to  the  church,  which  was 
well  filled.  It  had  a  wonderful  ancient  painted  ceiling. 
P.  P.  offered  the  prayer  from  the  pulpit.  L.  R.  and 
L.  C.  spoke.  From  the  gallery  at  the  end  of  the  nave 
a  girls’  choir  sang,  and  there  was  a  solo  by  a  young  girl 
sung  from  the  organ  loft.  P.  P.  spoke  about  the  Weston 
church.  The  school-teacher,  followed  by  six  young 
girls  in  Hungarian  costume,  made  a  short  address  in 
English,  and  presented  us  with  flowers.  We  returned 
to  the  parsonage,  where  we  received  three  delegations. 
The  first  spokesman  was  from  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  a  fine-looking  elderly  gentleman.  The  second 
was  from  the  Reformed  Church,  a  young  minister  who 
spoke  very  fluently.  A  third  address,  on  behalf  of  the 
Women’s  League,  comprising  the  women  of  the  Re¬ 
formed  and  Unitarian  churches,  was  made  by  a  lady 
who  spoke  excellent  English.  She  was  the  energetic 
and  enterprising  type  of  modern  woman  whom  we  might 
have  met  in  Boston  or  Denver.  She  made  a  very  strik¬ 
ing  speech,  pleading  that  we  help  save  the  Magyar 
culture,  now  threatened  with  extinction.  After  these 
delegations  had  been  received,  we  were  called  into  a 
smaller  room,  where  we  met  the  ministers  of  the  dis¬ 
trict  representing  twenty-six  churches,  and  were 
addressed  by  the  Dean.  He  explained  that  the  District 

[78  ] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

Assembly  had  been  in  official  session,  and  had  elected 
P.  P.  honorary  minister  of  this  church.  P.  P.  ac¬ 
knowledged  the  honor  done  him.  The  Dean  then  turned 
to  L.  C.  and  explained  that  he  had  been  made  honorary 
Dean  of  the  district.  The  word  “dean”  in  Hungarian  is 
“esperes.”  L.  C.  gratefully  accepted  the  honor.  There 
was  much  handshaking.  The  company  then  walked 
half  a  mile  to  a  restaurant  for  luncheon.  On  the  way 
we  saw  on  the  left  the  old  school  building,  seized  by  the 
State,  and  on  the  right  a  new  school  building,  erected 
by  the  League  of  Women.  If  support  is  refused  to  the 
Confessional  schools,  then  the  second  school  will  have 
been  built  in  vain.  At  the  restaurant  perhaps  one 
hundred  people  sat  down  at  the  long  tables.  There 
were  several  speeches,  the  usual  toasts  and  replies.  An 
orchestra  of  gypsies  played  at  one  end  of  the  room, 
and  played  very  well.  L.  C.  sat  next  the  lady  who  had 
spoken  for  the  League  of  Women.  She  told  him  of  the 
efforts  to  preserve  their  institutions.  Opposite  the 
restaurant  and  plainly  visible,  Roumanian  men  and 
women,  ragged,  dirty,  half-clad,  were  laying  the  wall 
of  a  brick  house,  the  women  carrying  the  hods. 

After  luncheon,  we  went  back  to  the  house  for  our 
bags,  and  then  took  carriages  which  were  waiting  for 
us.  P.  P.  and  L.  R.  rode  in  a  yellow  carriage  with 
coachman  in  livery,  belonging  to  the  Countess  and 
Baron  Horvath.  Dr.  Boros  and  L.  C.  followed  in  a  low 
victoria.  A  number  of  carriages  accompanied  us.  We 
were  told  afterwards  of  a  curious  incident,  showing  the 
ancient  feeling  about  matters  of  precedence.  The 

[79] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

coachman  driving  Dr.  Boros  and  L.  C.  was  told  to  pre¬ 
cede  the  Baron’s  carriage  containing  P.  P.  and  L.  R., 

but  the  Baron’s  coachman  refused  to  start  unless  his 

\ 

carriage  went  first:  representing  his  family,  he  would 
not  allow  his  carriage  to  follow  the  village  carriages. 

A  two-hour  drive  took  us  to  Haranglab  (meaning 
Wooden  Bell  Tower).  At  the  foot  of  the  lane  leading 
up  to  the  church,  an  arch  of  flowers  and  oak  leaves  had 
been  erected  in  our  honor.  The  sister  church  is  the 
Church  of  the  Messiah  in  St.  Louis.  L.  R.  and  L.  C. 
spoke.  P.  P.  christened  Kalman  Busahany,  infant  son 
of  the  minister.  It  was  a  tender  and  moving  service, 
the  father  and  mother  standing  with  the  baby,  P.  P. 
opposite  them  beside  the  communion  table,  wrapped  in 
the  long  robe  of  the  Hungarian  minister,  and  the  large 
congregation,  all  standing  reverently. 

We  drove  a  short  distance  to  the  house  of  Istvan 
Sautmaris.  His  brother  welcomed  us  and  took  us  to 
our  host,  an  invalid  in  a  wheeled  chair.  The  brother’s 
wife  acted  as  hostess.  The  house  had  been  in  the  family 
since  1521,  and  was  a  charming  old-fashioned  one-story 
Hungarian  mansion.  A  broad  veranda  gave  access 
from  the  garden  to  the  big  living  room,  where  there 
were  a  number  of  gentlemen  waiting  to  meet  us,  in¬ 
cluding  Baron  Horvath,  with  whom  we  were  to  spend 
the  night.  The  porch  commanded  a  beautiful  view  of 
the  valley.  As  this  entertainment  was  typical  of  the 
sort  of  friendly  visiting  among  the  nobility  in  the  old 
days,  it  is  worth  description.  A  long  table  occupied  the 
centre  of  the  room,  covered  with  rich  linen,  tall,  slender 

[80] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

bottles  of  wine  at  regular  intervals,  and  the  usual  equip¬ 
ment  of  silver  and  white  china.  The  supper  consisted 
of  cold  meats,  delicate  breads  and  cakes,  and  old  wine, 
with  delicious  coffee  and  cigars.  Our  hostess,  the  only 
lady  present,  herself  helped  to  serve  us,  sitting  with  us 
only  at  intervals.  L.  C.  was  given  the  seat  next  to  her 
at  the  end  of  the  table,  P.  P.  and  Dr.  Boros  at  his  right, 
L.  R.  and  Baron  Horvath  at  the  left.  There  were  about 
twenty  men  at  table.  There  was  a  feeling  of  comrade¬ 
ship  and  a  grace  never  found  except  where  they  spring 
from  old  friendship  and  community  of  interests.  A 
good  deal  of  the  conversation  was  courteously  addressed 
to  us  and  translated.  Altogether  it  was  as  lovely  a 
picture  of  hospitality  as  one  would  ever  see.  Halfway 
through  the  meal  the  sound  of  men  singing  came  to  us 
through  the  closed  shutters.  It  was  a  group  of  vil¬ 
lagers  singing  folk-songs  in  the  garden. 

Beneath  this  hospitality  and  cheer  there  was,  how¬ 
ever,  no  sense  of  security.  For  example,  one  of  the 
guests  was  a  former  land-owner,  here  on  a  visit  from 
Budapest.  All  his  estates  had  been  taken  from  him. 
We  asked  if  the  Sautmaris  family  were  secure  in  their 
ownership  of  this  old  estate.  “So  far,”  we  were  told, 
“  they  have  been  able  to  keep  it,  but  no  one  can  tell.  If 
it  is  taken  from  them,  they  will  have  nothing.”  Their 
problems  were  similar  to  those  of  everyone  present. 
Of  Baron  Horvath’s  difficulties  we  shall  speak  later. 
Some  of  the  guests  had  nothing.  Others  expected  to 
lose  all  they  had.  All  of  them  were  fighting  for  their 
schools.  All  were  struggling  against  daily  annoyances 

7  [81  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

inflicted  by  the  Roumanian  authorities,  well  calculated, 
if  not  intended,  so  to  irritate  them  that  they  would 
leave  Transylvania. 

It  would  be  easy  to  overestimate  thewealth  and  luxury 
of  this  charming  home.  The  garden  with  its  ancient 
hedges,  and  to  our  American  eyes  its  rather  curious 
Hungarian  treatment,  was  no  more  elaborate  than 
might  be  found  in  many  a  quiet  suburban  home  in 
America.  It  was  not  nearly  so  elaborate  as  are  the 
gardens  of  some  of  our  wealthier  people.  The  house 
was  spacious  and  massively  built,  after  the  fashion  of 
the  country.  The  walls  were  perhaps  two  feet  thick. 
It  had  something  of  the  solidity  of  an  old  Southern 
mansion,  but  its  appointments  were  modest.  Far  more 
complete  furnishings  could  be  found  in  many  Western 
farmhouses.  The  food  and  even  the  wines  were  pro¬ 
duced  on  the  farm.  The  point  is  that  the  charm  and 
grace  of  the  occasion  were  due  to  the  host  and  the 
company,  and  only  incidentally  to  the  setting;  yet  that 
setting  could  be  produced  only  by  time  and  the  con¬ 
tinued  occupancy  of  people  highly  intelligent  and 
cultivated. 

Perhaps  this  picture  is  typical  of  the  life  of  the  landed 
aristocracy  in  Transylvania.  It  was  a  simple  agri¬ 
cultural  life,  rich  in  comforts,  but  not  to  be  likened  to 
the  life  of  titled  people  in  England  or  to  the  complex 
and  luxurious  conditions  of  American  wealth. 

We  reluctantly  came  away  about  nine  o’clock,  and 
drove  without  lights  on  the  carriage,  through  such 
darkness  that  we  could  not  see  the  horses,  to  Deszfalva. 

[82] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

Here  we  stopped  by  the  roadside  where  a  group  of 
people  with  a  few  lamps  was  waiting.  We  went  to  the 
parsonage  and  found  our  way  into  a  dimly  lighted  room, 
where  the  minister  introduced  us  to  his  wife.  He  had 
been  one  of  the  guests  at  Mr.  Sautmaris’,  and  had  asked 
us  to  stop  in  order  that  L.  C.  might  christen  his  baby. 
We  were  presented  to  the  sleepy  little  girl,  perhaps  a 
year  old.  People  came  and  went  in  the  parsonage,  while 
the  bell  in  the  neighboring  belfry  announced  that 
something  was  about  to  happen,  and  the  villagers  came 
hurrying  to  the  church.  After  about  half  an  hour’s 
wait,  we  picked  our  way  through  the  dark  lane  from  the 
parsonage  to  the  church,  a  large  bare  structure  painted 
white  inside  and  out,  with  a  stone  floor.  Before  the 
high  pulpit  was  the  round  communion  table  on  which 
stood  flowers  and  three  lamps,  giving  a  bright  centre  to 
the  big  interior,  filled  with  shadows.  Out  to  the  darkest 
corners  stood  the  congregation,  the  men  on  one  side 
and  the  women  on  the  other,  all  waiting  for  the  service. 
After  a  prayer  and  a  hymn,  L.  C.,  wearing  the  minister’s 
gown,  went  to  the  communion  table  and  baptized 
the  little  Eva.  The  child  slept  through  the  entire 
service.  The  sister  church  is  in  Baltimore. 

We  picked  our  way  again  down  the  dark  lane  to  the 
carriages,  and  drove  on  to  Szokefalva,  where  P.  P.  and 
L.  C.  were  to  spend  the  night.  L.  R.  and  Dr.  Boros  went 
back  to  Dicsoszentmarton  for  the  night.  In  the  morn¬ 
ing,  before  joining  the  others,  they  visited  the  near-by 
parish  of  Dombo. 

P.  P.  and  L.  C.  were  guests  of  Baron  Horvath  and  his 

[83] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

wife,  the  Countess.  In  Hungary  when  a  nobleman 
married  a  woman  with  a  higher  rank,  she  took  his  name 
but  kept  her  own  title.  The  house  interested  us  greatly. 
Through  an  ornamental  white  gateway,  dimly  seen  in 
the  darkness,  we  drove  up  a  curved  driveway  to  the  en¬ 
trance  porch.  We  passed  directly  into  a  beautiful,  high- 
studded  room.  On  one  long  wall  hung  tapestries.  The 
long  wall  opposite  was  broken  by  a  large  stone  fireplace. 
There  were  windows  at  either  end.  The  room  was  per¬ 
haps  fifty  by  thirty  feet.  Across  the  back  extended  a 
broad  corridor  hung  with  hunting  trophies.  This 
mansion  follows  the  usual  Hungarian  plan  of  a  central 
living  room  with  rooms  opening  from  it.  It  was  white 
outside,  with  a  very  beautiful  red-tiled  roof.  Parts  of 
it  dated  from  the  fourteenth  century,  and  before  the 
Reformation  it  had  been  a  convent.  Over  the  door  was 
an  ancient  image  of  the  Madonna.  Our  rooms  were  in 
the  guest  house,  a  building  at  the  side  of  the  mansion. 
The  Baron  guided  us.  We  entered  a  low  archway, 
climbed  a  staircase  to  a  sort  of  cloister  gallery,  and  at 
the  end  found  our  large  chamber.  Here  the  next 
morning  breakfast,  consisting  of  eggs,  bacon,  coffee  and 
rolls,  was  brought  to  us  soon  after  eight  o’clock.  Soon 
afterwards  the  Baron  came  and  took  us  to  the  big  room 
where  we  met  the  family.  The  Baron  understood 
English  and  spoke  French.  The  Countess  spoke  English 
well.  A  German  governess,  a  gentle,  sad-looking  lady, 
talked  with  us  in  excellent  English.  The  Countess  told 
us  of  their  situation.  The  Baron  had  owned  an  estate 
near  by  consisting  of  nine  hundred  acres.  We  shall 

[84] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

speak  of  it  later.  This  had  been  confiscated.  The  house 
we  were  in  was  inherited  by  the  Countess.  This  also 
would  be  taken  from  them  by  the  first  of  January,  1923. 
According  to  the  terms  of  the  so-called  Agrarian  Reform 
Law,  thirty  acres  should  be  left  to  the  owner  of  an 
estate,  equivalent  to  perhaps  a  little  more  than  a  peasant 
allotment;  but  when  the  husband  and  wife  both  owned 
estates,  as  in  this  instance,  only  one  piece  of  thirty  acres 
would  be  allowed.  The  family  consisted  of  two  little 
girls  and  an  invalid  son.  The  Countess  said,  “After 
the  first  of  January  we  shall  be  very  poor  indeed. ”  It 
is  hard  to  see  how  thirty  acres  of  land  could  possibly 
support  this  family,  even  in  the  most  meagre  way.  We 
were  told  that  they  had  nothing  else.  It  was  an  extraor¬ 
dinary  experience  to  sit  in  this  beautiful  salon,  talking 
with  these  cultivated  people,  and  to  realize  that  in  all 
probability  we  were  among  the  last  guests  whom  they 
would  entertain  in  their  charming  country  home. 
Asked  if  there  were  any  hope  of  staying  the  process  of 
confiscation,  the  Baron  replied  that  he  was  employing 
counsel.  We  were  told  in  Cluj  later  that  there  was  no 
hope;  that  this  family  would  certainly  be  ruined  as 
their  neighbors  had  been. 

The  place  had  a  further  historical  interest.  A  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  Paget  family,  well-known  English  Unitarians, 
married  an  Hungarian  countess.  This  was  formerly 
their  home.  On  one  side  of  the  ancient  white  gateway, 
cut  in  stone,  were  the  arms  of  the  Paget  family,  on  the 
other  those  of  the  Countess.  The  Countess  Horvath 
wished  us  to  see  Mr.  Paget’s  garden.  Across  the  lawn 

[85] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

and  down  a  low  terrace,  we  discovered  a  very  lovely 
little  formal  garden.  It  was  a  transplanted  bit  of 
England.  A  stone  table  in  the  centre  suggested  that 
here  Mr.  Paget  and  his  countess  used  to  take  their  tea 
in  the  good  old  English  way. 

Dr.  Boros  and  L.  R.  arrived  soon  after  nine  o’clock. 
We  crossed  the  road  to  the  church  where  the  people  met 
us  at  the  gate  and  gave  us  flowers.  The  interior  was 
rather  poor,  and  the  church  needed  repairs.  The  ceiling 
was  in  bad  condition.  After  prayer  the  minister  made 
us  an  earnest  address.  He  announced  to  L.  R.  that 
years  before  the  land  on  which  the  church  stood  had 
been  given  by  Mr.  Paget,  and  that  as  L.  R.  was  the 
first  English  minister  to  visit  the  parish,  they  begged 
him  to  accept  the  title  of  Honorary  Minister.  L.  R. 
responded.  We  were  in  the  church  perhaps  half  an 
hour  and  then  went  to  the  parsonage.  We  returned  to 
the  mansion  and  after  taking  a  few  photographs  and 
expressing  our  thanks,  rode  away. 

We  drove  about  three  miles  to  Szeplak,  and  called  at 
the  parsonage  of  Rev.  Sandor  Bodagy.  We  were  wel¬ 
comed  by  the  minister’s  wife,  a  young  woman  with  two 
little  children.  She  was  distressed  that  her  husband 
was  away.  After  a  pleasant  call  we  asked  to  see  the 
church.  It  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most  attractive  that 
we  had  seen.  Small  and  clean,  it  was  well  decorated, 
and  had  a  distinction  about  it  not  easy  to  convey.  It 
measured  perhaps  45  ft.  by  20  ft.,  and  as  was  the  case 
with  most  of  the  churches,  had  windows  on  one  side 
only,  and  none  at  the  ends.  Above  us,  as  we  entered, 

[86] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

was  a  small  organ  gallery.  The  pews  stood  on  either 
side  of  a  broad  aisle  to  the  middle  of  the  church.  Then 
there  was  an  open  space,  with  the  pulpit  on  the  left; 
a  round  communion  table  stood  in  the  middle.  Oppo¬ 
site,  against  the  wall,  was  a  covered  pew  for  the  Baron 
Horvath  and  his  family.  From  the  other  end  extended 
another  row  of  seats  for  the  men.  Facing  us  as  we 
entered  the  church,  was  an  interesting  tablet,  dating 
from  the  16th  century,  in  memory  of  a  member  of  the 
Horvath  family.  It  was  lettered  with  evident  care, 
but  with  somewhat  irregular  lines  sloping  slightly  up¬ 
ward.  The  tablet  had  once  been  colored.  There  were 
still  traces  of  red  and  blue  in  the  initials  and  in  the 
coat  of  arms.  The  good  taste  and  dignity  of  this 
building  were  due  to  its  being  the  Horvath  family 
chapel.  The  residence  was  just  across  the  road.  This 
was  the  other  estate  owned  by  the  Baron  Horvath,  our 
host  of  the  previous  night.  We  entered  the  gates  and 
looked  across  a  neglected  lawn  at  the  fine  old  one-story 
mansion  with  its  steep  tiled  roof.  It  was  apparently 
closed,  but  we  were  told  that  it  was  occupied  by  Rouma¬ 
nians.  Here  when  the  Roumanians  entered  Transylvania 
the  Horvaths  were  beset  by  a  band  of  soldiers.  The 
Countess,  disguising  herself  as  a  peasant,  escaped  from 
what  would  have  been  certain  torture  by  these  Rou¬ 
manians.  They  took  weapons  from  the  Baron’s  wall, 
and  told  him  to  produce  money  or  be  killed.  Just  how 
he  escaped  death  we  were  not  informed.  Our  minister 
assisted  him  in  his  flight,  with  the  result  that  the  next 
morning  two  soldiers  went  to  the  parsonage  and  told  the 

[By] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

minister’s  wife  that  they  would  kill  her  and  her  children. 
She  and  the  children  knelt  before  the  soldiers,  pleaded 
for  their  lives,  and  gave  them  what  money  they  had  — 
two  hundred  lei.  The  soldiers  departed. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Transylvania  was  ceded  by 
the  Trianon  Treaty  to  Roumania,  that  this  occupation 
occurred  prior  to  the  ratification  of  the  Treaty,  and  that 
nevertheless  the  Roumanian  troops  treated  the  Tran¬ 
sylvanians  as  conquered  peoples  were  treated  in  the 
Middle  Ages.  Here  was  a  peaceful  village,  with  flocks  of 
geese  walking  by  the  side  of  the  road,  the  men  in  the 
fields  harvesting  the  crops,  the  women  spinning,  our 
little  church  standing  in  its  quiet  beauty,  and  yet  only 
yesterday  these  scenes  had  been  enacted.  Now  we 
were  told  that  there  was  no  sense  of  security:  no  one 
knew  what  might  happen  at  any  time.  It  was  said  to 
us  again  and  again,  “There  is  no  law,  there  is  no  gov¬ 
ernment.”  By  this  was  meant  that  every  petty  Rou¬ 
manian  official  did  as  he  pleased,  and  terrorized  as  he 
saw  fit.  There  was  practically  no  governmental  over¬ 
sight,  and  no  capacity  for  administration. 

We  drove  to  Bordosz,  a  small  village  with  a  bare 
church.  Some  fifteen  years  ago  the  old  building  was 
abandoned,  and  the  new  church  built*  It  is  a  sub¬ 
stantial,  clean  building,  gray  outside  and  white  inside, 
with  yellow  painted  pews.  Next  it  stands  a  clean, 
small  parsonage.  The  sister  church  is  the  First  Parish 
in  Hingham.  The  minister,  Peter  Odon,  and  his  wife, 
were  interested  when  they  learned  that  L.  C.  had  been 
minister  of  the  Hingham  church.  Until  quite  recently 

[88] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

this  society  was  a  daughter  or  filial  church  of  the  much 
larger  church  at  Rava.  The  family  had  one  little  boy 
just  beginning  to  talk.  He  went  to  P.  P.  and  surprised 
us  by  saying  very  slowly  and  clearly,  “I  am  Peter  Odon, 
Junior,  a  little  Unitarian  Transylvanian  boy.”  He 
then  shook  hands  with  P.  P.  We  held  a  brief  service  in 
the  church.  P.  P.  offered  prayer;  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  spoke. 

We  drove  for  about  an  hour  up  a  beautiful  valley, 
the  hills  closing  nearer  and  nearer  as  we  ascended.  It 
may  be  well  here  to  mention  a  few  features  of  the 
countryside.  The  land  is  cultivated  continuously. 
There  are  no  walls  or  fences  of  any  sort.  Only  stone 
markers  indicate  the  boundaries.  The  roads  wind  be¬ 
tween  cultivated  fields  that  reach  as  far  as  one  can  see 
on  either  side  to  the  hills,  and  on  the  hillsides  are  the 
forests,  coveted  sources  of  wealth.  Seen  from  the  high 
places,  the  effect  of  these  cultivated  fields  is  most  in¬ 
teresting  and  beautiful.  Here  are  squares  of  grain, 
next  them  others  of  corn.  Long  rows  of  vegetables 
stretch  like  ribbons,  now  this  way,  now  that,  but  all  are 
in  regular  plots,  with  here  and  there  a  road  threading 
its  way  between  them,  and  now  and  again  groups  of 
peasants,  both  men  and  women,  harvesting.  Another 
surprising  feature  is  the  entire  absence  of  houses.  We 
would  drive  through  these  cultivated  lands,  literally 
for  miles,  without  seeing  a  single  house  or  meeting  a 
vehicle;  then  suddenly  we  would  find  ourselves  in  the 
middle  of  a  village.  The  people  do  not  live  on  the  land 
they  cultivate,  but  crowd  in  closely  built  villages. 
Whether  this  custom  grew  out  of  a  love  for  companion- 

[89] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

ship  or  for  protection  we  could  not  learn.  On  the  one 
hand  the  custom  gives  community  life  that  scattered 
farms  could  not.  On  the  other  hand,  it  involves  walk¬ 
ing  several  miles  to  farm  the  land,  and  driving  the  cattle 
the  same  distance.  To  the  labor  of  harvesting  the  crops 
is  added  their  transportation.  It  is  not  uncommon  for 
a  farmer  to  haul  his  hay  three  miles  to  his  barns. 

About  two  o’clock  we  arrived  at  Rava,  a  village  at  the 
head  of  the  valley.  It  numbers  two  thousand  people, 
and  has  but  one  church,  the  Unitarian.  The  first  auto¬ 
mobile  seen  in  Rava  brought  Mr.  Snow,  Mr.  Metcalf, 
and  Mr.  Witte.  Ours  was  the  second  and  created  great 
interest.  A  large  crowd  met  us  at  the  church,  the  men 
in  the  national  costume,  heavy  boots  to  the  knees,  tight- 
fitting  homespun  woolen  trousers  belted,  soft  white 
shirt,  perhaps  with  a  little  embroidery  about  the  collar, 
and  a  coat,  sometimes  of  sheepskin,  sometimes  of  dark 
cloth,  thrown  over  the  shoulders,  the  arms  not  put 
through  the  sleeves,  and  usually  a  dark  felt  hat.  Some 
of  the  women  were  in  national  costume,  but  most  of 
them  were  in  colored  cotton  gowns.  Many  were  bare¬ 
footed. 

The  church  was  a  large  and  really  beautiful  building, 
dating  from  the  fourteenth  century.  It  stood  on  a 
corner,  the  main  street  in  front  of  it,  a  narrow  street 
leading  to  the  hill  just  behind.  It  was  fortified  with  a 
strong  wall,  as  were  most  of  the  ancient  churches.  Tall 
poplar  trees  stood  inside  the  wall,  a  unique  feature. 
The  interior  was  of  the  basilica  type,  about  90  ft.  by 
45  ft.,  and  perhaps  50  ft.  high.  The  handsomely  carved 

[90] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

pulpit  was  covered  with  one  of  the  velvet  cloths  already 
described.  The  pews  and  woodwork  were  painted  blue 
and  white,  rather  crudely,  but  the  whole  effect  of  the 
church,  both  outside  and  in,  was  dignified  and  im¬ 
pressive.  A  large  congregation  gathered.  P.  P.  offered 
prayer;  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  spoke.  In  making  his  speech  of 
welcome  the  minister,  Mr.  Fogarosz,  said  that  as  L.  C. 
was  a  former  minister  of  Hingham,  the  sister  church  to 
the  former  filial  congregation  of  Rava,  the  congregation 
desired  to  make  him  Honorary  Minister.  Dr.  Boros  had 
explained  that  this  was  one  of  the  churches  not  needing 
aid  from  the  American  churches,  but  like  other  unaided 
churches  it  greatly  desired  a  sister  church  in  America 
for  the  sake  of  fellowship  and  correspondence.  L.  C. 
explained  that  the  First  Church  in  Hingham  would  be 
glad  to  adopt  the  church  at  Rava,  so  long  as  this  meant 
only  the  interchange  of  friendly  courtesies.  The 
minister  is  Dean  of  the  district. 

We  were  given  dinner  at  the  parsonage  at  about  four 
o’clock.  A  beautiful  old  silver  communion  cup,  dating 
from  1612,  was  brought  out  for  our  inspection.  The 
minister  and  L.  C.  jested  a  little  about  what  the  duties 
of  the  honorary  minister  would  be,  and  L.  C.  was  told 
that  he  would  be  expected  to  take  the  daily  service  in 
the  church  at  six  o’clock  every  morning  and  to  preach 
two  sermons  on  Sunday.  L.  C.  agreed  to  return  as  soon 
as  he  could  settle  up  his  affairs  at  home. 

The  church  lacked  one  bell,  and  the  people  were 
trying  to  raise  money  to  purchase  a  second. 

It  was  hard  for  us  to  sense  the  peril  which  threatened 

[91  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

\ 

the  parish.  Here  were  an  abundance  of  food,  sub¬ 
stantial  dwellings,  a  noble  church;  apparently  there  was 
comfort  and  plenty.  Yet  the  forest,  which  had  largely 
supported  the  church  and  school,  had  been  taken  by  the 
Roumanians,  and  if  the  endowment  land  were  taken 
also,  as  they  feared  it  would  be,  they  would  face  nothing 
less  than  ruin.  What  sustains  these  people  in  this 
period  is  their  belief  that  something  will  happen  to  avert 
the  ultimate  disaster. 

In  our  own  minds  we  questioned  constantly  whether 
the  Hungarian  administration  had  been  as  perfect  as  was 
implied,  and  whether  it  might  not  be  possible,  by  giving 
Transylvania  a  better  administration,  to  wean  the 
people  from  a  desire  for  a  return  to  Hungarian  rule. 
Apparently  this  was  a  “counsel  of  perfection.”  The 
fact  that  everything  Roumanian  is  in  their  experience 
so  much  worse  than  anything  these  people  ever  knew 
under  Hungarian  rule,  makes  them  look  back  upon  the 
Hungarian  rule  as  idyllic.  The  uncertainty  that  now 
prevails,  the  fact  that  “There  is  no  law,”  and  that 
officials  do  as  they  please,  make  the  former  conditions 
seem  like  absolute  security  and  peace. 

Forty  minutes’  ride  brought  us  to  Csokfalva,  a  small 
village.  The  automobile  entered  the  parsonage  en¬ 
closure,  where  girls  in  costume  met  us  with  flowers, 
with  which  they  afterwards  trimmed  the  car.  We  went 
to  the  church,  a  well-placed  building,  where  a  large 
congregation  gathered.  All  three  of  us  took  part  in  the 
service.  We  tried  to  photograph  the  crowd  in  the 
street,  where  groups  of  girls  walked  abreast  lifting 

[92] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

garlands.  Opposite  the  parsonage  was  a  tiny  Roman 
Catholic  chapel  with  two  bells  hung  on  a  stout  post,  and 
above  them  a  little  thatched  roof,  —  a  quaint,  primi¬ 
tive  belfry.  We  had  refreshments  in  the  parsonage. 
Detroit  is  the  sister  church. 

As  evening  came  we  drove  on  to  Nyaradszentmarton, 
another  village,  where  the  minister  serves  three  filial 
congregations  besides  his  parish.  The  house  of  the 
Dean,  Fazalsas  Lajos,  had  the  usual  large  room  opening 
from  the  porch.  At  the  left  was  one  good-sized  bed¬ 
room,  and  next  it  a  smaller  bedroom.  Down  the  centre 
of  the  large  room  was  a  long  table,  seating  some  twenty 
people.  We  sat  at  table  for  nearly  two  hours.  It  would 
perhaps  be  interesting  to  note  the  kind  of  dinner  served 
us  at  ten  o'clock.  There  was  soup,  then  a  long  wait; 
fried  chicken,  followed  by  another  long  period  of  wait¬ 
ing;  and  then  came  an  apple  tart,  and  we  supposed 
this  was  the  end.  Quite  a  period  of  waiting;  more  con¬ 
versation;  then  to  our  surprise  we  were  served  with 
roast  duck,  which  was  followed  after  another  interval 
by  sweet  cakes  and  coffee.  After  this  we  asked  to  be 
excused  and  went  to  bed.  In  the  morning  Dr.  Boros 
told  us  that  the  guests  sat  at  table  drinking  coffee  and 
talking  until  after  one  a.m.  We  were  really  troubled 
when  we  thought  of  the  labor  that  the  minister's  wife 
and  the  women  of  the  household  had  put  into  the  prepa¬ 
ration  of  that  dinner.  The  amount  of  food  consumed, 
and  the  work  involved,  must  have  been  enormous,  and 
these  were  poor  people.  We  asked  Dr.  Boros  if  there 
was  not  some  way  in  which  we  could  offer  indirect 

[93] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

compensation,  but  he  said  that  we  could  not  do  so  with¬ 
out  hurting  the  feelings  of  our  kind  hosts.  They  were 
the  finest  type  of  devoted  gentlepeople. 

July  29th.  At  ten  o’clock  we  held  service  in  the 
church  —  a  fine  old  pre-Reformation  building.  There 
was  a  good  number  of  people  present.  P.  P.  offered  the 
prayer;  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  spoke.  About  eleven  o’clock 
we  departed,  taking  the  Dean  with  us.  L.  C.  sat  on  the 
top  of  the  hood,  with  L.  R.  between  his  feet,  the  Dean 
and  P.  P.  on  either  side,  and  Dr.  Boros  and  the  chauffeur 
in  front.  We  drove  about  two  miles  across  the  flat  valley 
to  one  of  the  filial  congregations  at  Buzahaza,  a  very 
primitive  community.  On  festival  days  the  Dean  must 
leave  his  house  before  five  o’clock  in  the  morning  to 
reach  this  filial  congregation  and  return  for  the  service 
in  his  larger  church.  We  saw  the  small  school,  con¬ 
cerning  which,  as  everywhere,  there  is  deep  anxiety. 
Then  we  visited  the  little  ruined  church,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  old.  Upon  a  loose  stone  foundation  rest 
the  sills  and  the  framework  of  the  building.  Between 
the  uprights  are  loosely  woven  sticks,  a  sort  of  wicker 
work;  on  this  is  laid  the  adobe  mud.  If  kept  in  repair, 
such  buildings  last  for  long  periods;  once  out  of  repair 
they  go  quickly.  This  was  a  tiny  church,  not  more 
than  twenty  by  forty  feet.  A  little  gallery,  a  dignified 
old  pulpit,  the  pine  woodwork  sun-stained  in  soft 
shades  of  brown  and  not  painted,  gave  it  a  distinctive 
character.  Indeed,  few  churches  that  we  saw  had  more 
atmosphere.  It  would  cost  no  more  than  $250  to  re¬ 
build  it,  using  the  old  framework  and  laying  up  sub- 

[94] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

stantial  and  permanent  brick  walls.  It  was  evident 
that  the  Dean  was  exceedingly  anxious  that  we  should 
do  something  about  rebuilding  this  poor  dilapidated 
little  temple.  He  did  not  ask  us,  but  he  watched  us 
closely,  with  deep  wistfulness  and  anxiety.  His  hope 
and  prayer  could  not  for  a  moment  be  misunderstood 
or  forgotten.  The  services  at  present  are  held  in  the 
schoolhouse,  as  the  authorities,  because  of  its  ruinous 
condition,  have  very  properly  forbidden  worship  in 
the  church.  The  sister  church  of  Nyaradszentmarton 
is  Arlington  Street,  Boston. 

We  next  drove  to  another  filial  congregation  under 
the  ministry  of  the  Dean.  A  dignified  Presbyterian 
church  stood  in  its  enclosure,  but  we  were  told  it  was 
not  used.  Near  by  was  the  Unitarian  schoolhouse, 
used  both  for  the  school  and  for  worship.  Here  we 
parted  with  the  Dean,  who  stood  weeping  in  the  road 
as  we  came  away,  a  noble,  a  pathetic  figure.  He  has 
poured  out  his  life  sacrificially  for  the  fifteen  hundred 
communicants  under  his  care. 

On  our  way  to  Galfalva,  we  passed  a  town  with  a 
large  and  picturesque  cattle  market.  We  arrived  at 
noon  and  went  to  the  parsonage,  a  substantial  and  very 
well-kept  house.  We  entered  the  yard  and  found  that 
the  usual  veranda  had  been  changed  in  this  instance  to 
a  glass-enclosed  porch.  Here  we  met  a  number  of 
ministers  from  the  district,  officers  of  the  church  and 
others.  The  sister  church  is  at  Chestnut  Hill.  We  were 
shown  the  parsonage,  and  then  taken  to  the  church, 
which  occupied  a  commanding  position  on  the  hillside, 

[95] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

overlooking  the  valley.  A  steep  road  led  up  the  hill  by 
one  side  of  it,  giving  it  much  architectural  dignity.  The 
tower  faced  the  main  road  with  an  appearance  of  great 
height.  Fortification  walls  surrounded  the  building, 
which  dated  from  before  the  Reformation.  L.  C.  of¬ 
fered  the  prayer;  P.  P.  and  L.  R.  spoke.  There  was  a 
large  congregation.  Outside  the  church  we  took  pic¬ 
tures  of  the  people  and  the  minister.  We  visited  the 
school  and  returned  to  the  parsonage  for  luncheon, 
which  was  a  very  pleasant  occasion;  several  ministers 
and  their  wives  were  present. 

We  left  about  three  o’clock  and  drove  a  few  miles  to 
Nyaradszentlaszlo.  Here  we  walked  a  short  distance 
along  a  road  and  turned  to  the  left  up  a  steep  hillside 
toward  the  ancient  church.  We  were  met  by  a  crowd 
of  men  and  women,  carrying  flowers.  The  minister, 
dressed  in  a  very  shabby  gown,  which  had  turned  from 
black  to  green  with  age,  made  us  a  speech  of  welcome 
in  the  road.  The  church,  a  really  beautiful  building, 
dating  from  the  fourteenth  century,  was  surrounded 
by  a  fortification,  and  unlike  most  of  the  churches,  was 
entered  at  the  end  of  the  nave.  The  interior  was  one 
of  the  noblest  that  we  saw;  very  high  and  broad,  with 
a  deep  chancel.  It  had  distinctly  better  architectural 
feeling  than  many  of  the  other  churches.  We  held  a 
brief  service;  L.  C.  spoke.  One  of  the  most  interesting 
features  in  this  church  was  an  ancient  bell  of  excellent 
tone,  497  years  old.  It  rang  us  goodwill  and  farewell. 
We  heard  its  voice  following  us  in  benediction  long 
after  we  had  left  the  place. 

[96] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

P.  P.  offered  through  Dr.  Boros  to  present  a  new 
gown  to  the  minister.  Dr.  Boros  insisted  that  the  min¬ 
ister  was  fairly  well-to-do,  and  considered  his  gown  quite 
good  enough.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suggest  the  gift. 
In  this  village  again,  it  was  hard  for  us  to  see  the 
peril  of  the  people,  who  were  very  anxious  as  to  their 
future.  The  minister  had  not  received  all  the  payment 
he  was  entitled  to,  and  except  for  his  private  means  he 
could  not  have  continued  his  services.  The  people  were 
very  poor.  The  sister  church  is  at  Quincy,  Massa¬ 
chusetts. 

In  Transylvania  it  is  the  custom  for  humbler  people 
to  kiss  the  hands  of  their  superiors.  Peasant  women 
apparently  desired  to  shake  hands  with  us,  and  then 
would  attempt  to  kiss  our  hands.  It  was  a  courtesy  to 
refuse  to  have  the  hands  kissed,  the  implication  being 
“I  am  not  worthy,  you  are  quite  mistaken,  you  are  our 
equals.”  At  this  village  two  old  men  succeeded  in 
kissing  L.  R.’s  hand,  much  to  his  discomfort. 

We  drove  to  Szentharomsag  (meaning  “The  Holy 
Trinity,”)  a  remote  and  poor  village,  charmingly  located 
on  a  hillside.  Buffalo  is  the  sister  church.  A  curious 
accident  had  occurred  here.  The  large  and  substantial 
brick  church  was  built  twenty  years  ago  and  had  been 
occupied  for  perhaps  ten  years.  Then,  in  a  period  of 
unusual  rains,  the  hill  slid,  carrying  away  the  front  of 
the  church,  and  rendering  the  rest  of  it  unsafe.  There 
was  no  earthquake.  The  whole  hill  is  of  soft  clay,  and 
under  the  excessive  rain  it  oozed  and  shifted  its  posi¬ 
tion.  Possibly  the  building  had  not  been  set  on  deep 

[97] 


8 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

foundations.  We  entered  the  ruin.  It  had  been  a 
church  of  dignified  proportions  and  rather  costly  con¬ 
struction,  and  represented  the  toil  of  years.  The 
parish,  too  poor  to  repair  it,  worships  in  a  small  school- 
house.  We  visited  this  school,  and  had  cakes  and 
“raspberry  shrub. ”  The  minister  and  his  wife  were 
very  fine  people.  Here  again  it  was  borne  in  upon  us 
what  hard  conditions  they  were  bravely  facing. 

We  drove  for  about  half  an  hour  to  Szentgericze 
(meaning  “Holy  Dove”).  For  several  miles  we  had 
seen  this  church  standing  high  on  the  crest  of  a 
hill  overlooking  the  valley.  We  skirted  the  foot  of 
the  hill,  passing  the  main  entrance  marked  by  a 
high  gate,  and  drove  to  the  parsonage  entrance. 
We  were  welcomed  by  a  crowd  of  people  who  gave  us 
flowers.  The  bell  was  ringing.  We  had  been  expected 
earlier.  We  proceeded  at  once  across  the  courtyard, 
through  the  parsonage  veranda,  up  a  steep  ascent  and 
across  an  interesting  old  graveyard,  to  the  church. 
There  was  a  large  attendance;  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  spoke; 
P.  P.  offered  the  prayer.  We  met  many  of  the  people, 
among  them  the  aged  organist  and  teacher.  Before  the 
change  in  the  government  he  was  eligible  for  a  pension. 
He  had  petitioned  the  Roumanian  authorities  for  the 
support  due  him;  they  had  asked  him  to  present  a  full 
statement.  This  he  had  done,  but  had  never  received 
an  answer.  He  had  been  waiting  two  years.  Ministers 
and  teachers,  under  the  old  regime,  were  entitled  to 
slender  but  sufficient  retiring  allowances.  Under  the 
new  regime  the  obligation  has  been  ignored.  Inevitably 

[98] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

this  entails  great  hardship.  At  the  end  of  our  talk, 
the  teacher  left  us  to  conduct  a  child’s  funeral  for 
which  the  bell  was  then  tolling.  As  in  this  instance, 
the  teachers  often  act  as  assistant  ministers. 

We  returned  to  the  parsonage,  a  house  superior  to 
many  we  had  seen.  It  had  the  usual  arrangement  of  a 
large  central  living  room,  in  the  middle  of  which  the 
table  was  spread.  The  minister,  Denes  Kerestesz,  and 
two  deacons  sat  at  the  table  with  us,  the  wife  and  the 
two  daughters  serving  us.  He  seemed  to  us  more  the 
type  of  the  German  professor  than  of  the  Hungarian 
minister.  During  dinner  a  poor  widow  came  to  see  us 
and  we  were  asked  to  assist  her.  This  was  her  story. 
Her  husband  had  worked  in  the  coal  mines  of  West 
Virginia,  where  he  had  been  killed.  Two  men  from 
this  village  witnessed  the  accident  and  had  testified. 
Under  the  State  insurance  law  of  West  Virginia  the 
widow  is  entitled  to  $15  a  month,  a  substantial  sum  of 
money  in  Transylvania.  The  necessary  papers  had 
been  filed  and  the  claim  granted,  but  the  signatures  had 
to  be  witnessed  before  an  official,  and  they  were  taken 
to  the  Roumanian  Prefect  of  Police.  There  they  had 
remained  indefinitely.  It  had  been  explained  to  the 
widow  indirectly  that  the  papers  would  go  through  if  she 
would  give  half  the  pension  each  month  to  the  Prefect, 
otherwise  she  would  get  nothing.  The  widow  had  re¬ 
fused  to  divide  her  pension  with  the  Prefect.  We  told 
the  minister  to  have  the  papers  prepared  in  duplicate, 
and  to  send  them  to  us.  We  would  see  what  could  be 
done.  This  widow  must  support  five  children  and  her 

[99] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

invalid  father,  who  was  formerly  the  lay  president  of 
the  church,  all  on  a  two-acre  farm.  She  was  poorly 
clad  and  barefooted,  with  a  careworn,  sad,  but  very 
intelligent  face.  This  story  reveals  the  habit  of  nearly 
all  Roumanian  officials  of  whom  we  heard.  They  add 
to  their  income  and  enrich  themselves  as  they  can, 
regardless  of  the  methods. 

After  a  long,  dusty  drive  we  reached  Torda,  a  con¬ 
siderable  city,  and  went  directly  to  the  home  of  the 
Dean,  Mr.  Lorinczi.  Here  we  met  Mr.  Jozan,  our 
minister  at  Budapest.  It  was  the  first  time  he  had  been 
in  Transylvania  and  his  native  place  Torda  since  the 
war.  We  sat  at  table  with  a  group  of  distinguished- 
looking  men,  and  the  delicious  supper  lasted  until  eleven 
o’clock.  Afterward  P.  P.  and  L.  C.  were  the  guests  of 
the  former  director  of  the  Torda  College,  now  in  Rou¬ 
manian  hands.  He  is  at  great  sacrifice  the  principal 
of  the  Unitarian  high  school  maintained  by  the  Torda 
congregation.*  He  is  a  man  of  parts  and  cultivation, 
whose  wife  in  her  own  right  is  a  countess.  We  walked 
a  few  blocks  along  the  quiet  street  to  a  large  apartment 
dwelling,  where  our  hosts  occupied  the  ground  floor. 
We  entered  the  yard  through  a  gate  at  one  end.  Across 
the  back  of  the  house  was  a  veranda.  A  hallway  led  to 
the  central  living  room,  into  which  again  the  other 
rooms  led.  P.  P.  and  L.  C.  were  quartered  in  the  family 
parlor.  Knowing  the  long  journey  we  had  taken,  our 
friends  had  kindly  prepared  baths  for  us  at  five  o’clock. 
It  seemed  only  courteous  for  one  of  us  to  bathe,  even 

*  See  account  of  Torda  schools  in  report  by  L.  R.  p.  130. 

[  100  ] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

at  midnight.  Hot  baths  in  Transylvania  are  not  easily 
obtained.  In  the  few  houses  having  bathrooms  a  gas 
heater  usually  stands  in  one  corner  over  the  tap,  and  it 
takes  a  considerable  time  to  heat  the  water.  Clad  in  his 
bathrobe  L.  C.  was  led  through  the  sleeping  rooms  of  all 
the  members  of  the  family  to  the  bathroom,  and  then 
was  led  back  again.  The  family  we"e  all  in  their  beds 
and  asleep. 

Sunday,  July  30th.  After  a  pleasant  breakfast  with 
our  kind  hosts  and  their  four  beautiful  children,  we  left 
Torda  at  ten  o’clock,  and  drove  through  the  lovely 
countryside  to  Sinfalva.  We  had  not  expected  to  stop 
here,  but  a  large  number  of  people  had  gathered  in  front 
of  the  church.  Professor  Galfi  of  the  Kolozsvar  College, 
who  was  a  native  of  the  place,  made  us  a  speech  of  wel¬ 
come  in  English.  The  sister  churches  are  at  Westwood 
and  West  Roxbury.  We  went  into  the  church,  a  large 
pre-Reformation  building,  and  perhaps  three  hundred 
people  followed  us.  We  were  already  behind  time,  and 
could  not  hold  a  regular  service,  but  L.  C.  went  into  the 
pulpit  and  offered  a  prayer,  and  Dr.  Boros  spoke  briefly. 
We  were  in  the  church  perhaps  twenty  minutes.  From 
Sinfalva  we  drove  to  Varfalva.  As  we  neared  the  vil¬ 
lage,  we  passed  people  walking  from  neighboring  towns 
on  their  way  to  the  church  service.  Some,  we  were  told, 
had  been  on  the  road  since  3:00  a.m. 

Varfalva  is  situated  on  the  edge  of  a  mountainous 
district,  and  is  approached  along  a  beautiful  winding 
road.  The  church  stands  on  the  hillside,  in  a  com¬ 
manding  position  overlooking  the  valley.  We  climbed 

[  101  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

the  picturesque  steep  village  street  to  the  house  occupied 
by  the  widow  of  a  former  minister,  who  had  prepared 
rather  an  elaborate  breakfast  for  us,  chicken,  wine  and 
sweets.  At  the  two  tables  were  perhaps  thirty  people, 
including  the  Baron  Joszika,  who  represented  a  distin¬ 
guished  Roman  Catholic  family.  We  then  were  taken 
to  a  second  breakfast  in  an  orchard  adjacent  to  the 
church,  where  long  tables  were  spread,  and  many  of  the 
pedestrians  whom  we  had  passed  on  the  road  were 
eating.  Here  we  stayed  only  five  minutes,  and  were 
excused  from  taking  food,  but  we  shook  hands  and  paid 
our  respects.  Then  we  went  to  the  parsonage,  which 
overlooks  the  church  enclosure,  and  commands  a 
view  of  the  valley.  The  sister  church  is  in  Waltham. 
It  is  not  easy  to  convey  the  right  impression  of 
the  Varfalva  church.  Imagine  a  large,  high,  stone  edi¬ 
fice  of  the  fourteenth  century,  plastered  outside  and 
in,  painted  white,  seating  perhaps  fifteen  hundred 
people.  It  consisted  of  a  nave  and  deep  chancel  without 
transepts.  Galleries  extended  across  the  end  of  the 
chancel,  which  was  filled  with  seats  for  the  men.  In  a 
gallery  at  the  end  of  the  nave  sat  the  young  unmarried 
men.  The  nave  was  filled  with  women  and  girls.  A 
high  and  beautiful  pulpit  stood  at  the  left  wall  of  the 
chancel;  behind  it  the  minister’s  seat.  In  the  open 
space  just  in  front  of  the  chancel  was  the  round  com¬ 
munion  table.  Into  this  church  the  great  congregation 
crowded,  many  standing  in  the  aisles  and  around  the 
doors.  Every  seat  was  occupied.  The  occasion  was 
notable  not  only  because  of  our  visit,  but  for  another 

[  102  ] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

and  more  important  reason,  the  settlement  of  the 
new  minister,  Andras  Potoki.  The  installation  service 
followed  this  order.  First  there  was  a  hymn.  Then 
Dean  Lorinczi  of  Torda,  the  Dean  of  the  district,  made 
an  impassioned  address.  We  were  not  quite  clear  of 
its  purport,  but  judged  it  to  be  an  exhortation  to  the 
people  and  the  new  minister.  He  also  read  the  Bishop’s 
letter,  formally  appointing  the  young  graduate  of  the 
Divinity  School  to  this  ancient  parish.  The  boyish- 
looking  minister  of  about  twenty-six  years,  wrapped  in 
the  new  gown  given  him  by  P.  P.,  then  went  into  the 
pulpit,  offered  prayer,  and  preached  for  about  twenty 
minutes,  with  great  vigor  and  without  notes.  It  is  the 
accepted  custom  for  our  ministers  to  write  the  sermon, 
memorize  it  word  for  word,  rehearse  it  if  need  be  and 
deliver  it  with  fluency  and  rapidity.  This  young  man 
spoke  with  the  composure  and  the  manner  of  a  man 
long  accustomed  to  public  speaking.  He  ended  his 
sermon  with  a  short  prayer,  all  the  people  standing. 
Indeed  it  is  the  custom  for  everyone  to  stand  during  the 
prayer.  On  entering  the  church  the  men  and  women 
always  stand  for  a  moment  in  prayer,  just  as  the  Cath¬ 
olics  kneel.  It  appears  to  be  the  custom  also  for  the 
men  in  private  devotion  to  place  the  hat  partly  over  the 
face.  Following  the  prayer  by  the  minister,  L.  C.  gave 
from  the  high  pulpit  a  brief  sermon,  which  was  trans¬ 
lated  by  Dr.  Boros.  The  ministers  of  the  district  then 
gathered  around  the  communion  table  while  Dean 
Lorinczi  welcomed  the  new  minister,  who  responded. 
A  very  interesting  ceremony  followed._L.  R.  was  asked 

[  103  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

to  join  the  ministers  at  the  communion  table,  and  was 
made  honorary  Dean  of  the  district  of  Torda. 

One  trying  feature  of  this  interesting  service,  lasting 
as  it  did  for  two  and  a  half  hours,  was  the  lack  of  air. 
Except  for  the  two  doors  of  the  church,  which  were 
kept  open,  there  was  no  ventilation  whatever.  People 
in  Transylvania,  although  they  live  much  in  the  open, 
fear  draughts.  The  heat  in  the  church  was  suffocating. 

We  went  to  the  parsonage  and  received  a  delegation 
consisting  of  the  minister  and  several  laymen  from 
Csegez,  a  village  high  in  the  hills.  They  greatly  desired 
us  to  visit  their  church.  The  sister  church  is  Wellesley 
Hills.  Their  church  is  in  ruin,  their  town  very  poor. 
If  it  be  possible,  they  hope  we  will  assist  in  re-building 
the  church.  Lack  of  time,  and  the  fact  that  the  auto¬ 
mobile  could  not  reach  this  village  on  account  of  poor 
roads,  made  it  impossible  for  us  to  accept  the  invitation. 
We  next  were  taken  to  the  orchard,  where  a  long  dinner 
was  served  and  many  speeches  were  made.  There  were 
perhaps  a  hundred  and  fifty  people  at  table.  The 
dinner  consisted  of  soup,  chicken,  other  meats,  wine  and 
sweets.  During  the  dinner  the  Dean  rose  and  came  to 
L.  R.,  welcomed  him  as  the  new  Dean  and  kissed  him 
affectionately.  We  all  made  speeches.  Indeed  every¬ 
one  who  wished  to  speak  arose  and  said  something. 
The  feeling  of  the  occasion  was  very  happy,  and  a  great 
deal  was  due  to  the  enthusiasm  about  the  new  minister. 
We  were  told  the  next  day  that  this  party  lasted  into 
the  night,  with  dancing,  ending  at  daybreak  on  Monday 
morning.  We  came  away  about  four  o’clock. 

[  104  ] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

The  next  hour  and  a  half  took  us  through  one  of  the 
loveliest  regions  ever  dreamed  of.  We  came  down  a 
beautiful  valley,  then  turned  across  a  stream  to  follow 
another  valley  up  into  the  hills  to  one  of  the  most  pic¬ 
turesque  villages  that  could  be  found  in  all  Europe, 
Toroczko.  Its  white  houses,  well-kept  and  ordered, 
cluster  in  a  little  valley  at  the  very  foot  of  a  great 
mountain  of  rock  like  a  miniature  Matterhorn.  As  you 
stand  in  the  central  square  with  its  gushing  fountain 
and  the  big  white  church,  this  towering  mass  of  rock 
dominates  the  whole  scene.  Farther  along  the  valley 
are  the  fields,  rich  with  crops.  In  this  surpassingly 
beautiful  setting,  Toroczko  presents  a  picture  of  com¬ 
fort  and  of  prosperity,  in  sharp  contrast  to  the  meagre¬ 
ness  and  poverty  of  many  of  the  villages.  The  sister 
church  is  at  Portland,  Maine. 

At  the  gate  of  the  parsonage  we  were  met  by  three 
young  women  in  the  beautiful  Saxon  costumes.  One 
was  for  the  maiden,  another  for  the  betrothed,  and  a 
third  for  the  bride,  and  very  lovely  they  all  were,  par¬ 
ticularly  the  bridal  costume.  These  three  beautiful 
young  women  were  worthy  of  the  artist’s  brush.  We 
ascended  a  flight  of  steps,  and  went  through  a  covered 
veranda,  used  as  a  dining  room,  into  the  big  living 
room.  P.  P.  and  L.  C.  had  an  inner  room;  L.  R.  and 
Dr.  Boros  the  big  room.  Here  we  rested  for  a  little,  and 
at  seven  o’clock  went  to  the  beautiful  old  church,  stand¬ 
ing  within  its  walled  enclosure,  very  clean  and  well- 
kept,  the  only  church  in  the  town,  serving  the  entire 
community  of  2300  persons,  with  a  confirmed  member- 

[  105  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

ship  of  1500  communicants.  The  minister,  Stephen 
Nemesh,  gave  us  a  most  cordial  welcome  in  Hungarian, 
speaking  with  great  emotion.  He  then  addressed 
us  in  English,  reading  a  carefully  prepared  speech,  a 
copy  of  which  we  brought  away.  He  set  forth  the 
dangers  and  perils  which  the  congregation  was  facing, 
and  begged  for  our  sympathy  and  help.  P.  P.  ascended 
the  pulpit  and  preached  a  brief  sermon,  which  Dr.  Boros 
translated.  Many  of  the  women  wore  their  brilliant 
costumes.  There  were  perhaps  a  thousand  people  pres¬ 
ent,  among  them  Mr.  Jozan  of  Budapest,  formerly  the 
minister  of  this  parish.  It  was  pleasant  to  see  the  en¬ 
thusiasm  with  which  the  congregation  greeted  their 
former  minister,  and  they  were  very  cordial  to  us.  At 
the  end  of  the  service  P.  P.  was  made  honorary  minister. 
It  is  hard  to  convey  in  any  adequate  way  an  impression 
either  of  the  village  or  of  this  ancient  house  of  worship. 
The  most  beautiful  church  we  saw  in  Transylvania, 
larger  than  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral,  Boston,  it  was  one  of 
the  most  worshipful  and  attractive  churches  we  had 
been  in.  It  was  beautiful  in  its  proportions,  in  its  quiet 
decoration  and  gleaming  white  walls. 

In  the  midst  of  such  surroundings  it  was  hard  to 
realize  the  anxiety  of  the  people.  So  far  there  had  been 
little  friction  with  the  Roumanian  authorities,  but  there 
was  no  security  and  much  foreboding.  “If  the  endow¬ 
ment  is  taken  away,  what  can  be  done?”  we  asked. 
And  we  were  told,  “Nothing.  It  means  ruin.”  They 
were  fearful  that  their  land  would  be  confiscated,  and 
that  the  schools  would  not  be  permitted  to  continue. 

[106] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

Throughout  the  twenty-three  years  of  his  pastorate 
the  minister  had  never  failed  to  hold  daily  morning 
service  in  the  church  at  six  o’clock.  In  winter  this 
meant  holding  the  service  by  lantern  light.  The 
churches  are  unlighted.  In  all  these  years  he  had  never 
been  to  the  church  but  twice  when  there  were  no  wor¬ 
shipers,  and  these  occasions  were  in  times  of  heavy 
storms.  He  and  his  wife  and  family  were  attractive 
people  of  the  finest  type. 

After  the  service  we  drove  to  Toroczko-szent-gyorgy 
to  call  upon  the  minister,  Millos  Gal,  and  to  see  the 
ancient  church.  The  road  lay  along  the  valley  for  per¬ 
haps  three  miles  through  fertile  fields,  past  the  ruin  of 
a  castle,  and  into  a  small  village,  where  there  were  two 
churches,  Reformed  and  Unitarian.  Ours  was  a  pleas¬ 
ing  old  building,  standing  at  the  centre  of  the  village. 
The  minister  had  formerly  been  settled  at  Budapest, 
and  is  a  graduate  of  Manchester  College,  Oxford.  He 
spoke  excellent  English.  We  asked  why  the  pulpit  and 
communion  table  were  covered  in  black,  and  why  black 
funeral  wreaths  were  hung  against  the  gallery  wall. 
“Had  there  been  a  funeral  that  afternoon?”  He  said 
that  he  had  had  the  church  draped  in  black  ever  since 
the  Roumanian  occupation.  Dr.  Boros  remonstrated, 
“We  cannot  live  in  this  way,  it  is  hard  on  your  people.” 
The  minister  replied,  “As  long  as  I  am  here  we  shall 
continue  to  mourn.”  We  felt  that  this  attitude  must 
be  depressing  to  the  congregation.  We  were  told  that 
the  minister  and  his  wife  would  soon  remove  to 
Budapest.  The  sister  church  is  in  Philadelphia. 

C  107  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

We  went  to  the  parsonage,  the  house  where  Brassia 
(perhaps  the  most  distinguished  Hungarian  Unitarian 
of  the  nineteenth  century)  was  born  in  1819.  The 
minister’s  wife  was  dressed  entirely  in  black,  and  we 
were  told  that  she  refused  to  make  any  calls  or  go  about 
at  all,  and  spent  most  of  the  time  at  her  rosewood  grand, 
piano.  At  our  request,  she  played  for  us  with  real 
talent.  After  an  hour’s  call  we  drove  back  to  Toroczko. 

In  the  morning  we  walked  once  more  around  our 
beautiful  church.  We  also  saw  an  ancient  Toroczko 
house,  where  there  was  interesting  old  painted  furniture 
and  beautiful  costumes  were  unpacked  for  us.  At  about 
ten  o’clock  we  left  with  great  regret  one  of  the  loveliest 
spots  we  had  ever  seen. 

Monday,  July  31st.  We  reached  Rakosz  at  eleven 
o’clock.  The  church  stands  in  a  narrow  roadway,  and 
as  we  slowly  approached  the  door,  flowers  were  not 
only  handed  to  us,  but  literally  showered  upon  us  in 
bouquets,  which  fell  about  the  automobile  and  upon  it, 
and  quite  buried  us.  The  whole  back  of  the  car,  level 
with  our  necks,  was  full  of  bouquets.  We  made  a  brief 
call  at  the  parsonage  and  went  on  to  the  church,  where 
there  was  a  good  congregation.  The  pulpit  and  com¬ 
munion  table  were  covered  in  black.  The  minister 
made  us  a  passionate  address,  one  of  the  few  speeches 
we  heard  which  was  obviously  political.  L.  R.  chris¬ 
tened  a  baby  girl.  He  must  have  impressed  the  people 
by  his  reverence  and  feeling  even  though  they  could  not 
understand  his  words.  Following  the  service  we  went 
to  the  parsonage,  a  small  three-roomed  house,  pleas- 

[108] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

antly  located  and  well  furnished,  with  a  superb  view. 
We  met  a  former  minister,  a  fine  old  gentleman  who  had 
lived  in  this  parsonage  for  thirty  years.  Across  the 
road  was  a  small  parish  hall,  built  within  recent  years 
at  the  chancel  end  of  the  church.  From  the  doorway 
there  was  a  very  lovely  view  for  miles  down  the  valley. 
Here  luncheon  was  served,  but  we  could  stay  only  a 
very  short  time.  Returning  to  the  parsonage,  P.  P. 
and  L.  C.  climbed  into  the  minister’s  two-seated  wagon 
drawn  by  a  mare,  the  colt  accompanying  its  mother 
and  wearing  a  garland  around  its  neck.  L.  R.  went 
in  the  automobile  with  Dr.  Boros  and  the  minister’s 
wife. 

We  drove  a  few  miles  to  Vargyon.  Here  we  paid  a 
ceremonious  call  at  the  parsonage.  The  minister’s  wife 
was  ill,  and  the  daughter  of  another  minister  welcomed 
us.  Then  we  crossed  the  street  to  the  church,  where  a 
few  people  were  gathered.  L.  C.  offered  prayer  from 
the  pulpit.  The  bell  rang  continuously  during  our 
visit,  to  inform  the  people  in  the  fields  of  our  presence. 
The  minister,  Mr.  Kovacs,  had  been  one  of  the  speakers 
at  the  orchard  dinner  the  day  before.  As  we  were  leav¬ 
ing,  the  daughter  of  the  neighboring  minister  came  to 
say  good-by.  She  was  a  wholesome,  pretty  girl  of 
nineteen  or  twenty,  dressed  in  a  red  and  black  print 
gown,  and  a  big  hat  trimmed  with  red,  a  lovely  picture 
to  remember. 

Our  next  stop  was  at  Kovend,  where  we  were  very 
cordially  received.  The  crowd  filled  the  street.  We 
drove  to  the  house  of  the  minister,  Mr.  Adamosi,  a  noble- 

[  109  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

man,  and  a  man  of  means.  It  stood  in  a  considerable 
enclosure,  separated  by  a  low  fence  from  a  field  where 
threshing  was  going  on.  Bare-footed,  sturdy  men  and 
women  were  carrying  bundles  of  grain  to  the  big 
machines.  The  scene  was  full  of  color.  The  house, 
owned  by  our  host,  was  one  of  the  most  spacious  that 
we  visited.  Through  an  enclosed  porch,  a  sort  of  sitting 
room,  we  entered  a  large  bedroom,  and  behind  this  a 
big  living  room  where  two  tables  were  spread  for  dinner. 
A  long  wing  of  the  house  contained  other  rooms, 
including  the  kitchen. 

We  went  immediately  to  the  church.  It  was  re¬ 
decorated  a  few  years  before  the  war,  and  contained  a 
beautiful  modern  paneled  ceiling,  painted  in  old  Hun¬ 
garian  designs.  The  fine  pulpit  was  concealed  by 
drapery  and  adorned  with  a  garland  of  oak-leaves. 
A  large  congregation  welcomed  us.  We  held  the  usual 
service.  L.  C.  offered  prayer.  P.  P.  and  L.  R.  spoke. 
Meadville  is  the  sister  church.  Afterwards  a  crowd 
that  must  have  numbered  twelve  hundred  people  fol¬ 
lowed  us  back  to  the  house.  Many  flowers  were 
given  us,  and  the  young  women  decorated  the  auto¬ 
mobile.  There  followed  a  long  dinner.  At  the  head 
of  our  table  sat  the  aged  mother  of  our  hostess,  and 
at  the  foot  the  lay  president  of  the  district,  our  host 
and  hostess  at  the  head  and  foot  of  the  second  table. 
The  delicious  dinner  consisted  of  soup,  roast  veal,  apple 
tart,  chicken,  “floating  island”  with  raspberries,  and 
coffee.  Four  servants  waited  upon  us.  There  was 
light  wine,  and  many  toasts  were  proposed.  A  gypsy 

[no] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

orchestra  played  in  one  of  the  outer  rooms.  Our  hostess 
was  a  very  interesting  young  woman  of  pleasing  per¬ 
sonality  and  fine  appearance.  We  noticed  that  after  the 
first  course  she  withdrew  for  a  few  moments  and  re¬ 
turned  wearing  another  gown.  Dr.  Boros  explained 
that  this  had  no  particular  significance,  except  that, 
having  worn  her  very  best  at  church,  she  naturally  took 
it  ofF  and  put  on  her  second  best  during  dinner.  Her 
mother  was  a  very  striking  old  lady.  Nurses  brought 
in  two  charming  little  children  for  us  to  see.  During 
the  dessert  and  coffee  several  persons  sang,  and  we  were 
asked  to  do  our  part.  L.  R.  and  P.  P.,  who  sing  very 
well  together,  sang  “Drink  to  me  only  with  thine  eyes/’ 
P.  P.  taking  the  tenor  and  L.  R.  the  air.  This  was 
received  with  appreciation,  but  we  were  told  candidly 
that  it  was  “much  too  sad.”  Of  course  the  words  were 
not  understood,  but  evidently  the  music  seemed  too 
plaintive.  L.  R.  then  sang  “Macnamara’s  Band,” 
P.  P.  and  L.  C.  helping  with  the  chorus,  which  was  re¬ 
ceived  with  great  applause.  A  visiting  minister  sang 
very  well  indeed.  Then  the  young  people  began  dancing 
czardas,  the  Hungarian  national  dance.  It  was  graceful 
and  pleasing  and  unlike  anything  we  had  ever  seen. 
Nothing  would  do  but  we  must  dance.  Our  hostess  in¬ 
vited  us  in  turn  to  dance  with  her,  and  we  did  our  best. 

It  is  hard  to  describe  the  real  friendliness  and  jollity 
characterizing  this  dinner.  It  was  one  of  the  high 
watermarks  of  the  abundant  hospitality  extended  to  us. 
No  such  combination  of  dignity  and  ease  could  be  found 
at  home,  and  for  this  reason  it  was  all  the  more  interest- 

[in  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

ing.  We  drove  away  very  reluctantly,  and  after 
perhaps  half  an  hour  came  to  Szentmihaley. 

The  church  stands  at  a  bend  in  the  road.  A  man 
who  was  watching  for  us  from  the  belfry  promptly  be¬ 
gan  ringing  the  bell,  and  the  people  gathered;  many, 
indeed,  had  already  come.  At  the  church  gate  three 
little  girls  in  national  costume  gave  us  flowers.  The 
church,  a  large,  bare  and  rather  dreary  building,  was 
well  filled.  The  gallery  at  the  end  of  the  nave  was 
crowded  with  children,  most  of  them  under  ten  years 
of  age.  Several  ministers  from  neighboring  churches 
were  present.  Three  speeches  of  welcome  were  made. 
We  all  took  part  in  the  service.  Afterwards  we  went 
to  the  parsonage,  a  very  simple  home,  with  a  finely 
spiritual  atmosphere.  As  we  entered  the  porch,  the 
president  of  the  local  Presbytery,  an  honest  farmer, 
came  forward  and  made  us  a  speech.  Dr.  Boros  told  us 
that  the  church  had  been  through  a  period  of  decline, 
and  was  at  a  very  low  ebb  when  the  present  minister 
took  it.  Now  it  had  “come  back”,  and  the  credit  was 
to  be  shared  between  the  minister  and  this  lay  president. 
He  was  a  sturdy,  fine  type  of  man.  We  wished  we  had 
more  men  like  him  in  our  American  churches. 

While  we  were  being  entertained  in  the  living  room, 
we  heard  the  bell  tolling  and  learned  that  an  epidemic 
of  scarlet  fever  was  raging  in  the  village,  causing  the 
death  of  at  least  one  little  child  a  day.  The  bell  was 
tolling  for  a  child’s  funeral.  Yet  the  whole  village  had 
gathered  to  welcome  us,  and  the  church  gallery  had 
been  crowded  with  children.  Evidently  there  was  no 

[112] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

thought  of  quarantine  or  even  of  keeping  the  children 
apart  as  we  should  have  done.  A  very  moving  incident 
occurred  while  we  were  still  in  the  parsonage.  A  girl, 
perhaps  nineteen  or  twenty  years  of  age,  dressed  in 
simple  black,  was  introduced  to  us,  —  a  fine,  comely,  and 
very  able-looking  young  woman.  She  had  finished  one 
year  at  the  Normal  College  for  Teachers.  Her  ambition 
was  to  become  a  teacher  and  make  a  place  for  herself; 
but  her  father  had  died  six  weeks  before,  and  all  her 
dreams  were  ended.  She  could  not  possibly  go  on; 
there  was  no  money.  It  developed  that  her  expenses 
for  one  year  at  the  college  would  amount  to  thirty-five 
dollars.  P.  P.,  after  a  little  conference  with  Dr.  Boros, 
promised  this  sum  for  the  next  year,  and  Dr.  Boros 
explained  the  gift  to  her.  She  wept  and  kissed  P.  P.’s 
hand,  before  he  was  aware  of  what  she  was  trying  to  do. 
Everyone  was  rather  tearful.  Dr.  Boros  in  this  situa¬ 
tion  was  a  revelation  of  fatherly  gentleness  and  kind¬ 
ness.  When  we  left,  the  girl  stood  waving  us  good-by. 
The  tears  had  gone  and  the  smiles  had  come. 

So  small  an  amount  of  money  in  Transylvania  to-day 
means  the  release  of  a  life  into  its  ambition.  This  girl’s 
desire  for  an  education  is  precisely  the  kind  of  motive 
on  which  the  future  of  the  country  must  depend,  and 
which  the  strangling  of  the  educational  institutions, 
unless  prevented,  is  certain  to  kill. 

In  the  early  evening  we  continued  our  drive  to  Torda. 
We  had  been  told  that  there  would  be  no  service,  but 
perhaps  a  concert.  Then  we  were  told  there  would  be 
no  concert.  We  arrived  at  Dean  Lorinczi’s  house, 

[  ii 3  ] 


9 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

where  we  had  stopped  before,  expecting  that  our  day’s 
experiences  were  at  an  end,  and  that  after  a  short  stop 
for  supper  we  should  continue  on  our  way.  At  the 
Dean’s  house,  however,  we  were  told  that  people  were 
waiting  for  us  in  the  church,  and  as  quickly  as  we  could 
we  walked  the  short  distance  to  the  noble  old  building 
to  find  it  crowded  to  the  very  doors.  Twelve  hundred 
people  had  patiently  waited  for  our  coming  since  five 
o’clock,  and  it  was  now  after  eight.  The  church  is  a 
massive  stone  temple,  dating  from  before  the  Reforma¬ 
tion.  The  large  windows  were  filled  with  plain  glass. 
There  was  a  fine  stone  pulpit.  Withal  there  was  a  sense 
of  dignity  that  was  really  impressive.  Across  what  was 
once  the  chancel  there  was  the  usual  deep  organ  gallery 
packed  with  people.  In  another  gallery  across  the  end 
of  the  nave  was  the  famous  men’s  choral  society  of 
Torda  of  about  fifty  voices.  The  service  was  as  follows: 
A  hymn,  led  by  the  organist;  L.  C.  offered  the  prayer 
from  the  high  stone  pulpit.  P.  P.  and  L.  R.  spoke  from 
the  stalls  directly  beneath.  Dr.  Boros  translated.  The 
Dean  spoke  ardently  and  at  length.  He  commissioned 
us  to  tell  the  Rev.  Abbot  Peterson  that  he  was  made 
honorary  minister  of  the  Torda  church,  Torda  and  the 
First  Parish  in  Brookline  being  sister  churches.  The 
men’s  choir  sang  without  accompaniment.  L.  C.  spoke. 
There  was  a  soprano  solo.  The  service  ended  with  a 
second  selection  by  the  men’s  choir.  The  service  lasted 
about  two  hours.  Upon  the  communion  table  were 
flowers,  and  around  it  on  the  stone  floor  a  ribbon-like 
arrangement  of  very  small  blossoms  in  red,  green  and 

[114] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

white,  the  Hungarian  colors.  Several  Roumanian 
soldiers  were  present,  and  we  were  told  that  Roumanian 
officials  also  were  in  the  congregation. 

L.  C/s  theme  was  the  significance  of  Torda.  Here 
in  1582,  in  the  noble  old  thirteenth  century  (Roman 
Catholic)  church,  a  short  distance  from  our  present 
church,  was  held  the  famous  Diet  of  Torda,  in  which 
the  principle  of  religious  freedom  was  publicly  pro¬ 
claimed  by  Francis  David  and  first  adopted  as  the  laws 
of  a  country.  What  was  first  accepted  in  Torda  three 
hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  is  now  the  priceless  pos¬ 
session  of  the  civilized  world.  Though  religious  liberty 
may  be  retarded  now  and  again,  yet  it  is  destined  to 
become  the  birthright  of  all  intelligent  peoples.  Torda 
will  always  be  a  Mecca  for  enlightened  men,  because 
here  it  was  first  politically  accepted  that  “Faith  is  the 
gift  of  God.” 

We  returned  to  the  parsonage,  and  thence  rode  across 
the  city  to  a  garden  restaurant,  where  we  had  supper. 
There  were  at  table  perhaps  thirty  persons,  including 
Dr.  Boros,  the  Dean  and  his  wife,  their  son  and  little 
girls,  our  hostess  at  Kovend  and  her  niece,  the  former 
director  of  the  famous  Torda  College  (who  had  enter¬ 
tained  us  on  our  earlier  visit),  the  principal  of  the  Girls’ 
School,  and  others.  An  amusing  incident  revealed  how 
difficult  it  was  for  us  to  understand  one  another. 

“What  will  you  have  to  eat?”  we  were  asked.  “What 
is  there?”  “Anything  you  like,”  was  the  reply.  “But 
please  tell  us  what  is  prepared.”  “Well,”  it  was  an¬ 
swered,  “there  is  roast  beef,  that  is  what  you  call  roast 

[115] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

pork.”  “Roast  beef  would  be  very  nice/’  we  answered. 
“But  there  is  no  roast  beef/’  we  were  told.  “What  is 
there?”  “There  is  roast  pork.”  “And  what  is  the 
choice?”  “Roast  pork,”  was  the  answer.  Slowly  we 
learned  that  roast  pork  was  the  only  dish  prepared,  and 
in  due  time  delicious  pork  chops  were  served  us  on  thick 
wooden  discs.  The  dish  was  a  kind  of  planked  pork, 
like  our  planked  beef-steak,  and  made  a  most  appetiz¬ 
ing  supper.  There  were  light  wines  and  many  toasts. 

We  had  been  entertained  once  by  the  Dean  of  Torda. 
We  could  not  accept  a  second  dinner,  and  after  much 
explanation  and  some  argument,  it  was  at  length  agreed 
that  the  three  visitors  should  be  the  hosts  of  the  even¬ 
ing.  We  felt  also  that  some  recognition  was  due  from 
us  to  the  choral  society.  The  fifty  men  had  followed  us 
to  the  garden  and  sang  twice  most  beautifully  for  our 
pleasure.  We  were  told  that  it  was  the  customary 
thing  to  do  to  send  wine  for  the  men.  This  we  did,  and 
received  their  really  very  appreciative  thanks.  And 
here  was  the  sequel.  Our  bill  for  the  entire  entertain¬ 
ment,  including  the  dinner  for  thirty  persons,  the  wine 
for  fifty  men,  and  the  usual  tips,  because  of  the  de¬ 
preciated  currency,  amounted  to  something  less  than 
$3. 00  in  American  money. 

A  moving  incident  occurred  during  the  dinner.  We 
had  been  attracted  by  the  Dean’s  son,  a  winning  youth 
about  twenty  years  old.  After  diligent  inquiry,  we 
learned  that  he  had  intended  entering  the  Divinity 
School  at  Kolozsvar  this  autumn,  but  had  been  obliged 
to  abandon  the  plan  because  his  father  could  not  afford 

[116] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

to  send  him.  The  Divinity  School  provides  lodging, 
books  and  instruction  without  charge.  The  expense 
which  prohibited  the  young  man  from  preparing  for  the 
ministry  was  the  cost  of  table  board  for  an  academic 
year  of  forty-two  weeks.  The  total  expense  for  the 
year’s  food  in  American  money  would  be  about  $24.00. 
L.  C.  asked  to  be  allowed  to  give  the  year’s  board. 
After  some  protesting,  this  was  arranged,  and  the  young 
man  was  told  of  the  gift,  which  he  accepted  with  shy 
appreciation. 

After  our  farewells  we  started  on  the  long  drive  to 
Kolozsvar,  over  an  absolutely  deserted  road  under  a 
starlit  sky,  and  about  one  o’clock  arrived  at  the  College. 
This  was  the  end  of  our  journeyings  among  the  churches. 

Cluj-Kolozsvar,  August  1st.  In  the  morning  we  went 
through  the  College  building.  The  Director  and  the 
faculty  escorted  us,  and  in  each  department  the  pro¬ 
fessor  in  charge  gave  us  a  formal  welcome.  We  found 
that  Bishop  Ferencz  had  been  plunged  into  a  second 
great  sorrow.  His  son-in-law  had  died  in  Budapest, 
leaving  a  widow  and  two  children  almost  unprovided 
for.  In  the  afternoon,  with  the  college  faculty,  about 
twenty  men  in  all,  we  made  a  formal  call  of  sympathy 
upon  the  Bishop  and  his  wife. 

We  were  taken  through  the  familiar  doorway,  orna¬ 
mented  with  its  ancient  hatchment,  through  the  ante¬ 
rooms  to  the  living  room,  where  the  Bishop  received  us 
standing,  and  Mrs.  Ferencz  seated  upon  the  sofa.  We 
all  stood.  Dr.  Boros  made  a  speech  of  condolence,  the 
Bishop  replied.  We  then  started  to  withdraw,  but  the 

C  117  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

Bishop  came  forward  and  shook  hands  with  the  three 
visitors  and  spoke  with  us  briefly. 

A  curious  little  misunderstanding  arose  as  we  went 
to  the  Bishop’s  house.  We  felt  that  it  was  an  intrusion 
for  three  strangers  to  enter  with  the  men  who  had 
worked  intimately  for  so  many  years  with  the  Bishop, 
and  we  held  back  a  little,  intending  to  follow  the  fac¬ 
ulty;  but  we  were  misunderstood  as  desiring  to  make 
of  ourselves  a  second  and  quite  seperate  delegation. 
A  professor  said  to  L.  C.,  “You  are  now  one  of  us,  and 
you  must  not  go  in  separately.”  This  disclosed  our 
mistake,  and  we  followed  Dr.  Boros  into  the  room 
ahead  of  the  others. 

At  noon  we  went  to  the  home  of  Professor  and  Mrs. 
Csifo  for  luncheon.  Our  hostess  had  kindly  prepared 
many  typical  Hungarian  delicacies.  We  afterwards 
had  coffee  on  the  balcony.  It  was  a  delightful  occasion. 

At  four  o’clock  we  had  a  second  long  committee 
meeting  in  our  room  at  the  College.  There  were  present 
the  Bishop;  Mr.  Kovacs,  the  secretary;  Mr.  Hadhazy, 
treasurer;  Professors  Boros  and  Csifo,  P.  P.  and  L.  C. 

In  the  evening  a  meeting  of  the  Francis  David  Asso¬ 
ciation  was  held  in  our  honor  in  the  large  Consistory 
room.  The  lay  president  of  the  Consistory  presided, 
and  there  was  a  distinguished  company  which  filled  the 
hall.  There  were  speeches  by  the  president  and  secre¬ 
tary  of  the  Women’s  League,  and  by  several  of  the  men. 
We  all  responded.  There  was  a  violin  solo.  The  wife 
of  the  Presbyterian  minister  recited  an  original  poem. 
There  was  an  illustrated  lecture  on  Francis  David  and 

[118] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

his  time.  The  professor  of  Art  exhibited  beautiful 
church  silver.  The  meeting  lasted  about  three  hours. 

In  arranging  to  draw  money  for  our  return  trip  to 
London,  we  decided  to  enter  in  this  account  the  ex¬ 
changes  which  we  had  made. 

In  Italy,  there  were  97  lira  to  the  pound;  in  Roumania 
162  lei  to  the  dollar;  in  Austria  from  53,000  to  58,000 
kronen  to  the  dollar;  in  Hungary  from  1900  to  2500 
kronen  to  the  dollar;  in  Germany  about  4000  marks  to 
the  pound. 

Wednesday,  August  2nd.  In  the  morning  a  deputa¬ 
tion  called  upon  P.  P.  and  made  him  Honorary  Dean  of 
Koloszdoboka.  Each  of  us  had  now  been  made  a  Dean. 
L.  R.  and  L.  C.  had  been  made  Honorary  Ministers  of 
a  parish.  P.  P.  was  Honorary  Minister  of  two  churches. 

L.  C.  had  an  interesting  interview  with  Professor 
Csifo.  He  explained  his  great  desire  that  students 
should  go  from  Kolozsvar  for  a  year  or  two  to  study  in 
the  United  States,  just  as  they  had  gone  for  a  long  time 
to  Manchester  College,  Oxford.  He  also  desired  that 
American  students  should  come  to  Kolozsvar.  L.  C. 
regarded  the  first  wish  as  possible,  and  said  we  all  would 
do  what  we  could  to  help  bring  it  to  pass.  Of  the  second 
wish,  he  was  doubtful.  If  for  no  other  reason,  the  lan¬ 
guage  would  be  a  great  barrier.  It  is  worth  while  for 
an  Hungarian  student  to  learn  English;  it  may  be 
questioned  whether  it  would  be  worth  while  for  an 
American  student  to  learn  Hungarian. 

At  about  eleven  o'clock  we  were  summoned  to  a 
formal  meeting  of  the  Consistory.  At  the  head  of  a  long 

[119] 


I 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

table  in  the  centre  of  the  room  were  the  venerable 
Bishop  and  the  lay  president,  Baron  Horvath;  the  offi¬ 
cers  of  the  Consistory  sat  at  either  side;  the  delegate 
members  occupied  the  stalls  along  the  wall.  Dr.  Boros 
presented  us.  The  Bishop  made  a  formal  speech  of 
welcome.  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  replied  on  behalf  of  the 
British  and  American  churches.  We  were  present  about 
fifteen  minutes  and  remained  standing.  Then  we  were 
escorted  out  of  the  room,  and  the  Consistory  proceeded 
to  business.  Mr.  Jozan  was  present  as  a  member  of  the 
Consistory  from  Budapest  for  the  first  time  since  the 
war. 

We  withdrew  to  the  office  of  the  Bishop’s  secretary, 
where  we  received  a  delegation  of  twenty  professors 
from  the  colleges  and  schools.  Professor  Csifo  spoke 
on  their  behalf,  relating  their  great  sufferings,  present 
privations,  and  the  need  of  the  schools.  L.  R.  replied. 
The  British  churches  have  been  more  in  touch  with  the 
schools  than  have  our  American  churches,  having  con¬ 
tributed  largely  to  their  support. 

In  the  afternoon  we  had  been  invited  to  tea  with  Mrs. 
Boros.  L.  C.  had  previously  accepted  an  invitation 
from  the  Count  and  Countess  Teleki.  The  Secretary 
of  Agriculture  for  Transylvania  was  present  also.  He 
spoke  no  English,  and  L.  C.  no  German,  so  they  could 
not  converse.  Count  Teleki  showed  a  diagram  of  part 
of  the  estate  he  had  lost,  outlining  an  elaborate  system 
of  irrigation  which  he  and  his  father  had  slowly  per¬ 
fected  through  a  long  number  of  years.  He  was  trying 
to  dissuade  the  Roumanians  from  cutting  this  land  into 

[  120] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

many  small  holdings  and  abandoning  the  irrigation. 
Without  it  the  land  is  entirely  arid  and  profitless,  yet 
the  Roumanians  were  so  ignorant  that  they  were 
entirely  ignoring  the  irrigation  in  their  plan  of  division. 

L.  C.  drove  to  Dr.  Boros’s  apartment.  P.  P.  and 
L.  R.  had  been  there  for  an  hour,  and  had  been  enjoying 
music.  Miss  Boros  had  sung.  The  son  of  the  minister 
of  the  Kolozsvar  church  had  played  the  violin.  P.  P. 
had  accompanied  them  on  the  piano.  The  minister’s 
son  was  a  fair-haired  young  man  of  twenty  years,  just 
entering  the  Divinity  School.  Miss  Boros  showed  us 
artistic  Hungarian  jewelry  and  woodwork  which  she 
had  made.  Tea  was  served  to  us. 

We  then  went  to  a  dinner  given  for  us  in  the  big 
gymnasium  by  the  Francis  David  Association.  There 
were  perhaps  seventy-five  gentlemen  present  and  five 
ladies:  Miss  Kovary;  the  Secretary  of  the  Women’s 
Alliance;  Mrs.  Boros  and  Miss  Boros;  and  the  Countess 
Teleki.  Long  tables  were  arranged  in  a  hollow  square. 
At  the  head  sat  the  Bishop;  L.  C.  on  his  right,  then  the 
Countess,  then  the  representative  of  the  Lutheran 
Bishop,  and  next,  just  round  the  corner,  Miss  Kovary, 
and  next  her,  Count  Teleki;  on  the  Bishop’s  left  sat  the 
Baron  Horvath;  L.  R.;  then  the  Roman  Catholic  rep¬ 
resentative;  and  the  representative  of  the  Presbyterian 
Bishop.  P.  P.  and  Dr.  Boros  sat  opposite  the  Bishop. 
There  were  speeches  by  the  Bishop,  the  Catholic,  Pres¬ 
byterian  and  Lutheran  representatives,  Mr.  Kiss, 
Professor  Csifo,  Dr.  Boros,  Mr.  Lorinczi,  the  Dean  of 
Torda,  Mr.  Jozan,  and  several  persons  whom  we  did  not 

C  121  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

know.  We  all  responded.  After  the  more  formal 
speaking,  it  seemed  to  be  in  order  for  anyone  to  speak 
who  wished  to  do  so.  In  all  perhaps  eighteen  people 
spoke,  and  they  spoke  well  and  briefly.  L.  C.  made  a 
second  speech,  which  Professor  Csifo  translated,  thank¬ 
ing  Dr.  Boros  for  his  great  kindness,  and  the  service  he 
had  done  us  in  going  about  with  us  and  translating 
everything  that  we  had  said  and  everything  that  had 
been  said  to  us.  At  midnight  the  Bishop  rose  and  said 
that  it  was  time  for  an  old  gentleman  like  himself  to 
retire.  Dr.  Boros  whispered  to  us  that  we  were  ex¬ 
pected  to  follow,  which,  after  some  handshaking,  we 
did.  Later,  from  our  windows,  we  heard  what  we 
thought  was  singing  in  another  building,  but  it  appeared 
that  after  we  had  left,  the  Francis  David  Association 
continued  to  have  toasts  and  drink  light  wine  and  sing. 
L.  R.  from  his  room  heard  them  as  late  as  2:00  a.m. 

Thursday,  August  3rd.  At  eight  o’clock  every 
morning  during  our  stay  we  heard  the  church  bell 
ringing  for  morning  service.  Each  of  us  had  attended 
some  of  these  morning  services.  There  were  always  a 
few  people  in  the  church.  The  service  consisted  of 
organ  music  and  a  prayer.  On  this  last  morning  of  our 
stay  L.  C.  was  asked  to  conduct  the  service.  Several 
of  our  friends  came  to  share  it  with  us.  L.  R.  and  P.  P. 
sat  together.  The  organ  played  for  perhaps  ten  min¬ 
utes.  Then,  wearing  the  Dean’s  gown,  L.  C.  went  into 
the  high  pulpit  and  offered  prayer.  Nearly  everyone 
in  the  church  understood  English.  Here  in  the  oldest 
Unitarian  church  in  the  world,  at  the  centre  of  the 

C  122] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

Transylvanian  church  life,  we  asked  the  blessing  of  God 
upon  our  mission. 

At  ten-thirty  we  left  for  the  frontier  by  automobile. 
Many  of  our  friends  stood  on  the  sidewalk  before  the 
College  to  see  us  leave,  and  the  Bishop  from  his  office 
window  waved  his  farewell. 

Our  drive  was  a  tiring  and  hazardous  experience. 
We  had  none  too  much  time,  and  the  car  was  driven 
much  faster  than  was  pleasant,  and  very  recklessly. 
In  one  place  we  barely  missed  going  over  an  embank¬ 
ment  into  a  river.  At  a  second  place  the  car  skidded, 
and  for  a  few  seconds  we  believed  it  must  surely  turn 
over.  We  had  two  blow-outs,  which  involved  delays. 
But  finally  we  reached  the  frontier  at  Bihai-Pispoki, 
where  the  train  was  already  at  the  station.  Mr.  Jozan, 
also  traveling  to  Budapest,  met  us  and  we  were  hurried 
through  the  customs,  where  we  were  treated  cour¬ 
teously.  We  boarded  a  crowded  train  on  which  there 
was  not  a  seat  to  be  had. 

After  standing  for  an  hour  or  more,  the  Hungarian 
customs  officials  on  the  train  gave  us  their  own  com¬ 
partment,  standing  in  the  corridor  themselves.  We 
were  thankful  to  reach  Budapest  shortly  after  ten 
o'clock. 

Budapest 

We  were  met  at  the  station  by  the  two  sons  of  Mr. 
Jozan,  and  by  Mr.  Csiki,  whom  we  were  very  happy 
indeed  to  see  after  the  months  which  had  elapsed  since 
he  left  America.  The  city  of  Budapest  sent  automobiles 

[  1 23  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

to  meet  us,  and  we  were  told  that  we  were  guests  of  the 
city.  Mr.  Jozan’s  assistant,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Biro,  was 
also  of  the  party.  Mr.  Csiki  had  engaged  rooms  for  us 
at  the  Hotel  Astoria,  where  excellent  accommodations 
cost  us  about  fifty  cents  a  day  apiece.  It  had  been  ar¬ 
ranged  that  we  should  have  Friday  to  ourselves.  We 
spent  much  of  the  day  talking  with  Mr.  Csiki. 

Saturday,  August  5th.  A  big  meeting,  called  a  re¬ 
ception,  was  held  in  the  hall  of  the  Calvinist  Divinity 
School.  There  were  perhaps  five  hundred  persons 
present,  of  all  denominations.  On  the  platform  were 
representatives  of  twelve  church  and  social  organiza¬ 
tions.  All  of  them  made  addresses  of  greeting,  some 
speaking  in  English.  We  had  supposed  this  was  to  be 
a  religious  and  social  gathering,  but  to  our  surprise  we 
found  it  an  irredentist  meeting.  Each  of  the  speakers 
emphasized  the  political  side,  desired  us  to  help  Hun¬ 
gary  regain  Transylvania,  and  ignored  the  fact  that  our 
purpose  in  coming  had  been  to  solace  the  Unitarian 
churches.  L.  C.  spoke  first  in  reply,  and  tried  to 
counteract  the  tendency  of  the  speeches  by  emphasiz¬ 
ing  the  religious  nature  of  our  mission  and  pointing  out 
the  long  relationship  between  the  American  and  Tran¬ 
sylvanian  churches.  His  speech  failed  to  awaken  a 
response.  P.  P.  and  L.  R.  spoke  along  the  same  lines. 
The  only  interest  of  this  group,  many  of  whom  were  not 
Unitarians,  was  in  the  restoration  of  Hungary.  There 
was  music  by  a  brilliant  pianist,  songs  and  declamation. 

Sunday,  August  6th.  We  went  to  the  church  at 
half-past  ten  o’clock.  The  Society  owns  an  office  build- 

[124] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

mg,  the  income  from  which  constitutes  its  endowment. 
On  the  top  floor  is  the  church,  Gothic  in  character,  with 
high  vaulting  and  much  oak  paneling.  It  holds  per¬ 
haps  275  people,  and  was  crowded  to  overflowing. 
Places  of  honor  in  the  chancel  were  occupied  by  the 
British  Minister  and  his  wife,  and  the  American  Min¬ 
ister  and  his  wife.  We  were  led  to  our  seats  by  little 
girls  in  Hungarian  costume,  who  presented  us  with 
flowers.  After  music,  there  was  a  prayer  and  sermon 
by  Mr.  Csiki.  A  former  soprano  of  the  Royal  Opera 
sang  in  English  a  setting  of  “Hark,  hark,  my  soul.” 
Mr.  Jozan  addressed  us,  first  in  Hungarian  and  then  in 
English,  presenting  P.  P.  and  L.  C.  with  a  beautiful 
illuminated  address,  recording  the  gratitude  felt  for  our 
visit.  This  gift  is  to  be  hung  in  the  Association  Rooms 
in  Boston.  A  similar  document  was  presented  to  L.  R. 
for  the  British  and  Foreign  Association  in  London. 
P.  P.  gave  a  short  sermon  from  the  pulpit,  and  Mr.  Csiki 
translated  it.  L.  R.  and  L.  C.  spoke.  The  lay  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Society,  Mr.  Lajos,  made  a  brief  speech. 
The  service  lasted  about  two  hours. 

Immediately  afterwards  we  met  the  Presbytery  in  the 
Parish  Room.  There  were  present  perhaps  twenty 
persons,  all  laymen  except  Mr.  Csiki,  Mr.  Biro,  and 
Mr.  Jozan,  who  was  in  the  chair.  He  is  now  the  Suf¬ 
fragan  Bishop  of  the  Unitarian  Churches  in  Old  Hun¬ 
gary.  Mr.  Csiki  for  the  Presbytery  presented  a 
statement  in  English,  the  substance  of  which  was  as 
follows.  Before  the  ceding  of  Transylvania  to  Rou- 
mania  the  number  of  Unitarians  in  Budapest  had 

[125] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

slowly  increased.  The  church  founded  about  25  years 
ago  had  grown  to  a  membership  of  about  1 500  persons. 
The  church  equipment,  auditorium  and  parish  rooms, 
had  become  inadequate.  Since  the  ceding  of  Transyl¬ 
vania,  there  has  been  a  great  influx  of  Transylvanians, 
and  the  number  of  Unitarians  now  in  the  city  is  no  less 
than  six  thousand.  Of  these,  many  will  permanently 
remain  in  Budapest.  Inadequate  before,  the  church 
cannot  begin  to  meet  the  present  conditions.  Many 
people  come  and  cannot  obtain  entrance.  Many  live 
in  another  part  of  the  city.  In  short,  a  second  church 
is  needed.  If  the  two  Associations,  British  and  Amer¬ 
ican,  could  finance  another  movement,  it  would  under 
more  settled  conditions  become  self-supporting,  and 
would  be  another  permanent  influence  in  a  city  of  a 
million  inhabitants. 

L.  C.  replied  that  while  we  could  give  no  least  en¬ 
couragement  that  such  a  plan  could  be  carried  out,  we 
would,  of  course,  present  it  to  the  Directors  of  the 
American  Unitarian  Association.  L.  R.  replied  in  the 
same  vein  on  behalf  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Asso¬ 
ciation.  The  meeting  lasted  perhaps  an  hour  and  a 
half. 

After  the  meeting  we  were  taken  to  St.  Margaret’s 
Island  in  the  middle  of  the  Danube,  a  really  splendid 
park,  formerly  the  estate  of  the  Grand  Duke  Joseph. 
Accessible  by  bridges  from  both  Buda  and  Pest,  it  is  a 
wonderful  addition  to  the  life  of  the  people.  Here  we 
lunched  with  a  small  group  of  laymen.  We  then  walked 
about,  saw  the  ruins  of  the  monastery,  and  the  baths. 

[126] 


VISIT  TO  SCHOOLS,  COLLEGES  AND  CHURCHES 

Later  in  the  afternoon  we  met  many  of  the  church 
people  at  tea  in  another  part  of  the  same  garden. 

Monday,  August  7th.  We  took  lunch  with  Mr. 
Hohler,  the  British  Minister,  at  the  Legation.  It  is  on 
the  heights  of  the  Citadel  near  the  Royal  Palace,  a  cool 
and  spacious  house,  dating  from  the  fifteenth  century. 
We  were  shown  into  a  curious  sort  of  cloistered  room, 
the  ceiling  supported  by  low  arches  resting  on  central 
pillars,  the  end  of  the  room  looking  over  the  garden  and 
river.  We  ascended  a  long  stair  and  entered  a  narrow 
gallery  with  high  fireplace,  tapestried  walls,  and  win¬ 
dows  on  one  side.  Beautiful  old  furniture  stood  along 
the  walls.  Here  Mr.  Hohler  and  his  wife  received  us. 
Luncheon  was  served.  It  was  a  delightful  hour  at  table 
with  much  conversation  about  our  journey,  and  Tran¬ 
sylvanian  conditions. 

The  whole  atmosphere  was  immeasurably  less  strange 
and  foreign.  There  came  to  us  vividly  all  that  this 
British  Legation  broadly  represents  in  the  Empire  and 
the  United  States  where  Anglo-Saxon  institutions  are 
fundamentally  the  same.  We  felt  once  more  in  touch 
with  stability,  order,  and  that  liberty  which  is  the  in¬ 
heritance  of  the  Common  Law.  The  portraits  of  the 
King  and  Queen  on  the  wall  seemed  to  symbolize  the 
sanctities  of  a  civilization  scarcely  known  in  the  land 
we  had  visited,  but  which  is  to  us  the  very  foundation 
of  life.  We  felt  almost  at  home  again. 

Mr.  Hohler  particularly  asked  us  to  send  him  our 
report.  We  inquired  if  he  considered  that  delegations 
such  as  ours  were  of  real  use.  He  replied  that  he  should 

[  127  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

be  glad  to  say  officially  that  he  regarded  them  as  of 
inestimable  importance. 

We  drove  to  the  Hotel  Gelert,  where  by  appointment 
we  met  Dr.  Kolto,  formerly  Chief  Justice  of  Transyl¬ 
vania,  a  devoted  Unitarian.  He  had  been  asked  to 
draw  up  a  statement  of  the  claims  of  all  the  non- 
Greek  denominations  in  Transylvania,  which  should 
be  the  basis  of  discussion  with  the  Roumanian  govern¬ 
ment.  He  mentioned  a  number  of  points  regarding  the 
history  and  the  development  of  the  churches,  and  the 
present  situation.  The  substance  of  all  that  he  pre¬ 
sented  is  contained  in  his  written  statement,  attached 
to  this  report. 

At  the  end  of  the  afternoon  we  took  tea  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Jozan,  who  had  invited  a  number  of  people  to 
meet  us.  Tea  was  served  on  a  high  balcony  of  the  house, 
which  stands  on  a  hilltop  in  Buda.  The  whole  city  lay 
before  us  in  the  growing  twilight,  the  spire  of  our  church 
visible  across  the  Danube.  This  was  our  last  official 
engagement,  and  we  shall  never  forget  the  kindness  of 
our  hosts  nor  the  beauty  of  the  city  under  the  light  of 
the  rising  moon. 

The  next  evening  we  started  upon  our  homeward 
journey. 


[128] 


IV 


A  REPORT  ON  THE  COLLEGES  AND 
SCHOOLS  OF  TRANSYLVANIA 

By  Lawrence  Redfern  of  Liverpool 

The  Unitarian  Church  in  Transylvania,  from  the 
earliest  days  of  its  existence,  has  been  passionately  de¬ 
voted  to  the  cause  of  education,  and  in  this  as  in  other 
spheres  of  activity  has  a  long  and  honorable  record. 
Long  before  the  Hungarian  State  assumed  any  re¬ 
sponsibility  for  the  education  of  its  people,  each 
congregation  had  its  own  elementary  school  which  was 
staffed,  equipped  and  maintained  by  the  Church.  The 
same  is  true  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  the  other  non- 
Greek  denominations. 

Hence  it  has  come  about  that  by  tradition  both  ele¬ 
mentary  and  higher  education  in  Hungary  has  de¬ 
veloped,  and  developed  successfully,  on  church  lines. 
Even  the  first  universities  were  founded  on  a  religious 
basis.  It  is  not  surprising  therefore  that  in  the  Hun¬ 
garian  mind  there  is  a  deeply-rooted  conviction  that 
education,  in  its  fullest  and  broadest  aspects,  cannot  be 
carried  on  apart  from  religious  education.  This  fact 
must  be  grasped  before  there  can  be  any  clear  under¬ 
standing  of  the  present  schools  problem  in  Transyl¬ 
vania.  It  is  a  tradition  that  is  widely  different  from  our 

[  129  ] 


10 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

British  and  American  educational  theories.  To  discuss 
whether  it  is  good  or  bad  to  promote  education  on 
denominational  lines  is  entirely  irrelevant  to  the  present 
situation.  In  Transylvania  the  schools  question  is 
inseparably  bound  up  with  the  question  of  the  Rights 
of  Religious  Minorities,  and  the  maintenance  of  all 
denominational  or  Confessional  schools  was  guaranteed 
by  the  Roumanian  government  in  the  Peace  Treaty. 
But  we  will  return  to  this  later. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  Hun¬ 
garian  State,  realizing  its  responsibility  towards  its 
people  in  the  matter  of  education,  and  in  consequence 
making  demands  of  the  denominational  schools  which 
their  financial  resources  were  too  slender  to  meet, 
entered  into  a  contract  with  the  churches  concerned 
regulating  the  maintenance  and  control  of  their  ele¬ 
mentary  schools.  In  certain  instances  the  denomina¬ 
tional  school  was  replaced  by  a  State  school  proper. 
But  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  Hungarian  govern¬ 
ment  agreed  to  a  system  of  State  aid  for  denominational 
schools,  and  in  return  claimed  certain  rights  of  super¬ 
vision  and  control  over  school  buildings  and  properties 
and  the  standard  of  education.  This  contract  was 
honorably  carried  out  by  both  parties  and  was  in  being 
until  the  dismemberment  of  Hungary. 

In  addition  to  its  elementary  schools  —  now  48  in 
number  —  the  Unitarian  Church  also  owns  and  con¬ 
trols  three  upper  schools,  one  in  Torda  which  dates 
from  the  year  1566,  a  second  in  Kolozsvar,  and  a  third 
in  Szekelykeresztur.  In  each  of  these  schools  there  are 

[  13°  ] 


REPORT  ON  SCHOOLS  AND  COLLEGES 


about  300  pupils,  and  the  support  of  this  higher  edu¬ 
cation  was  also  dependent  in  part  upon  Hungarian 
State  aid.  At  Kolozsvar  and  Szekelykeresztur  the 
school  buildings  are  spacious  and  well-equipped;  but  in 
Torda  the  original  ample  building  has  been  arbitrarily 
seized  by  the  Roumanian  government  for  a  State  in¬ 
stitution,  and  the  premises  now  in  use  are  entirely 
inadequate.  All  three  schools  have  an  able  and  devoted 
staff  of  teachers,  and  have  done  a  magnificent  work  in 
preparing  pupils  for  graduation  into  the  State  univer¬ 
sities. 

At  Kolozsvar  there  is  also  a  Unitarian  Theological 
College,  which  exists  solely  for  the  purpose  of  preparing 
students  for  the  ministry  of  the  Unitarian  Church. 
This  institution  with  its  professors  and  tutors  was  also 
in  receipt  of  State  aid  from  the  Hungarian  government, 
but  was  entirely  free  from  State  interference. 

It  will  be  gathered  from  the  foregoing  statement  that 
up  to  the  time  of  the  Peace  Treaty  the  Unitarian 
Church  in  Transylvania,  with  the  help  of  the  Hungarian 
State,  had  maintained  an  elaborate  system  of  education 
which  for  a  long  period  of  time  had  helped  to  mould  the 
life  of  an  enlightened  and  cultured  people.  At  the 
present  moment  that  system  is  in  peril  of  extinction,  in 
spite  of  the  guarantees  clearly  laid  down  in  the  Peace 
Treaty  that  the  rights  of  religious  minorities,  and  of 
the  schools  belonging  to  those  minorities,  would  be  pro¬ 
tected  and  maintained  by  the  Roumanian  government. 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  elementary  schools  under 
Unitarian  control  (and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  other 

C  H1 1 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

denominational  schools)  have  received  no  government 
aid  whatsoever.  In  some  cases  the  Roumanian  author¬ 
ities,  claiming  that  they  are  now  the  lawful  successors 
of  the  Hungarian  State  in  Transylvania,  have  seized 
denominational  school  buildings  and  their  equipment 
without  any  compensation  or  compromise,  and  have 
converted  them  into  Roumanian  State  schools.  In 
many  instances  the  teachers  and  scholars  who  have  thus 
been  driven  out,  have  been  provided  with  temporary 
accommodation,  with  the  result  that  sometimes  in  quite 
a  small  village  where  there  are  few  if  any  Roumanian 
children,  there  is  a  Roumanian  State  school  with  per¬ 
haps  two  teachers  and  half  a  dozen  scholars,  and  a 
Unitarian  or  other  denominational  school  with  two 
teachers  and  50  or  60  scholars. 

Moreover,  so  far  from  recognizing  its  financial  obli¬ 
gations  towards  denominational  schools,  the  Roumanian 
government  through  its  recent  agrarian  legislation 
would  seem  to  be  bent  upon  their  economic  ruin. 
Under  the  Hungarian  regime  these  schools  were  only 
in  part  maintained  by  State  aid.  For  the  rest  they  were 
dependent  upon  landed  property  bequeathed  in  past 
years  by  individual  Unitarians  who  desired  to  perpet¬ 
uate  Unitarian  institutions.  The  total  amount  of  land 
belonging  to  our  Church  before  the  Roumanian  occu¬ 
pation  was  about  7000  acres.  Over  5000  acres  have 
already  been  confiscated,  and  another  thousand  taken 
on  a  system  of  forced  leases  and  given  to  Roumanian 
settlers  who  pay  little  or  nothing  for  their  holdings. 
This  so-called  agrarian  reform  has  left  in  the  possession 

C  132  ] 


REPORT  ON  SCHOOLS  AND  COLLEGES 


of  the  Unitarian  Church  less  than  a  thousand  acres  for 
the  maintenance  of  a  vigorous  and  far-reaching  edu¬ 
cational  and  religious  life. 

At  the  present  time  the  position  is  being  maintained 
with  the  utmost  difficulty.  Large  debts  have  been 
incurred  in  connection  with  the  schools,  and  have  had 
to  be  met  by  extraordinary  efforts  which  cannot  be 
continued.  Of  all  the  tales  of  heroic  endurance  which 
have  marked  the  past  few  years  of  Unitarian  life  in 
Transylvania  nothing  surpasses  the  heroism  of  the 
teachers  in  the  elementary  and  upper  schools,  who  have 
remained  at  their  posts,  although  their  salaries  have 
been,  and  still  are,  scarcely  sufficient  for  the  bare 
necessities  of  life. 

But  this  state  of  things  cannot  go  on  indefinitely,  and 
unless  time  brings  quickly  to  the  Roumanian  rulers 
both  wisdom  and  a  changed  policy,  or  unless  further 
help  is  forthcoming  from  brethren  in  other  lands,  there 
will  be  no  other  course  available  than  to  close  the 
schools.  From  evidence  which  comes  to  hand,  it  is 
difficult  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  this  is  the  con¬ 
summation,  the  tragic  consummation,  which  Roumania 
most  ardently  desires  and  is  seeking  by  economic  pres¬ 
sure  to  achieve.  At  any  rate,  only  two  alternative 
explanations  are  possible.  Either  the  Roumanian  gov¬ 
ernment  is  blind  to  the  possibilities  of  allowing  several 
kinds  of  cultural  life  to  exist  in  the  same  State,  and  is 
stupidly  beginning  to  crush  out  ancient  institutions 
which  have  nourished  a  high  civilization,  or  it  is  deliber¬ 
ately  trying  to  crush  these  institutions  in  the  belief  that 

[  133  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

a  ruined  province  will  be  easier  to  control  than  an 
enlightened  and  prosperous  one. 

In  an  interview  with  the  Minister  of  Cults  and  Arts 
in  Bucharest,  we  were  informed  that  in  the  autumn  of 
this  year  the  government  is  to  submit  the  draft  of  a 
new  constitution  for  the  whole  of  Roumania,  a  con¬ 
stitution  inspired,  so  we  were  assured,  by  a  liberal  and 
tolerant  spirit.  Past  experience  does  not  prompt  us  to 
build  our  hopes  too  high.  But  even  if  this  new  consti¬ 
tution  materializes,  and  even  if  all  the  good  things  that 
were  said  about  it  are  realized,  a  considerable  time 
must  elapse  before  it  can  have  any  material  effect  upon 
the  conditions  of  religious  minorities  in  Transylvania 
and  their  schools.  These  institutions  may  well  die 
while  Bucharest  argues  and  deliberates. 

At  any  rate  during  the  long  period  of  readjustment 
—  if  any  readjustment  be  attempted  —  these  schools 
must  have  a  fighting  chance  to  live.  The  centre  of  the 
whole  problem  would  seem  to  have  shifted  for  the  time 
being,  from  the  churches  to  the  schools.  The  splendid 
generosity  of  the  American  Unitarian  churches,  by  their 
system  of  “adoption,”  has  made  the  position  of  the 
Transylvanian  churches  more  secure,  at  any  rate  for  a 
limited  period. 

Furthermore,  the  Roumanian  government  after  a 
delay  of  two  years  has  recognized  the  status  of  the 
Unitarian  ministry,  and  is  now  making  regular  pay¬ 
ments  towards  the  salaries  of  ministers.  But  the 
schools  remain  unprovided  for,  nay,  they  have  been 
despoiled  of  their  endowments.  In  the  past,  they 

[i34] 


REPORT  ON  SCHOOLS  AND  COLLEGES 

have  contributed  in  no  small  part  to  the  culture  and 
civilization  of  Transylvania.  Such  a  state  of  things 
calls  for  the  active  help  and  sympathy  of  all  who 
desire  to  uphold  the  liberal  spirit,  whether  in  religion 
or  education,  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States,  through  its  Committee  on  Work 
in  Europe,  published  in  October,  1922,  an  appeal  for 
the  allied  bodies  in  Europe,  asking  among  other  items 
for  $50,000  “for  the  support  of  schools  and  other 
educational  institutions  in  the  Hungarian  Reformed 
Church  in  Transylvania.”  On  page  10  of  the  pamphlet 
it  justifies  this  appeal  with  the  following  statement: 

\ 

“The  rights  and  even  the  very  existence  of  the  schools 
and  other  educational  institutions  of  the  Hungarian  Re¬ 
formed  faith  have  been  imperiled  in  Roumania.  The 
Magyars  have  in  the  past  laid  great  stress  upon  the  impor¬ 
tance  of  church  schools,  and  in  fact  the  educational  system 
under  the  monarchy  was  for  the  most  part  in  the  hands  of 
the  churches  through  their  denominational  schools.  Four- 
fifths  of  the  elementary  schools  were  conducted  by  the 
churches.  Thus  the  school  became  an  integral  and  essential 
part  of  the  church’s  program  to  an  extent  not  known  in 
this  country.  The  Roumanian  Government  has  declared 
in  favor  of  a  complete  system  of  state  schools,  and  by 
confiscation  or  other  repressive  measures  is  forcing  the 
church  schools  to  the  wall.  This  involves  placing  the 
education  of  Protestant  boys  and  girls  in  the  hands  of 
Greek  Orthodox  teachers,  who  by  the  very  nature  of  the 
case,  cannot  be  neutral  on  matters  of  religion,  since  one 
must  be  Greek  Orthodox  to  be  a  good  Roumanian.  Among 
the  educational  institutions  thus  imperiled  is  the  Hungarian 

[135] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

University  at  Kolozsvar,  which  has  long  been  a  center  of 
Protestantism  in  Transylvania. 

“The  Magyars  in  Transylvania  are  ready  to  be  loyal 
subjects  of  the  Roumanian,  since  they  must,  but  they  also 
wish  to  be  loyal  to  their  Protestant  faith  and  to  educate 
their  children  in  such  loyalty.  These  schools  can  still  be 
preserved  to  the  church  and  to  Protestantism,  if  America 
will  help.” 


[136] 


V 


THE  REPORT  OF  THE  CONSISTORY 
TO  THE  COMMISSION 


I.  Former  Conditions 

In  the  year  1918,  the  Unitarians  received  from  the 
Hungarian  government  yearly,  the  following  aids: 


1.  For  Church  purposes: 

(a)  Under  the  XXth  Article  of  the 

law  passed  in  1848 . 171.400-  Cron. 

(b)  For  general  Church  purposes.  .  .  100.000- 

(c)  For  increasing  the  general  funds, 

sinking  fund .  15.800-  “ 

(d)  Supplement  for  minister’s  pay¬ 

ment . 117.473-82  “ 

(e)  Payment  for  ministers  with  re¬ 

gard  to  the  years  of  their  serv¬ 
ices .  44.228- 

(f)  The  same  for  the  old  ministers. .  17.572- 

(g)  Aid  for  the  assistant  ministers.  .  2.000- 

2.  For  School  and  College  purposes: 


(a)  Aid  for  the  College  at  Kolozsvar  48.110- 

(b)  “  “  “  “  “  Szekely- 

keresztur .  36.000- 

(c)  Supplement  of  payment  for 

schoolteachers  under  XV-XVI 
Articles  of  law  passed  in  1913  46.137- 

c  137  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

(d)  Supplement  of  payment  for  the 

professors  of  the  College  at 

Kolozsvar .  20.900-  Cron. 

(e)  The  same  at  Szekelykeresztur. .  .  16.400- 

Sum  total . 636.020-82.  Cron. 

Besides  these,  the  supplement  of  payment  for  the 
theological  professors  and  the  fees  for  the  ministers  for 
teaching  religion  in  the  schools,  were  covered  by  the 
Hungarian  government.  The  ministers,  teachers  and 
professors  got,  beside  all  the  (mentioned)  aids,  some 
supplement  for  their  families,  some  war  aid  and  a  cer¬ 
tain  amount  for  clothing.  In  short,  they  did  get  all 
that  was  granted  to  the  government  officials. 

Upon  the  annexation  of  Transylvania  to  Roumania, 
we  had  in  1918,  one  Theological  College,  two  Middle 
Schools  at  Kolozsvar  and  Szekelykeresztur,  and  twenty- 
six  denominational  elementary  schools;  112  mother, 
six  associate,  and  fifty  filial  congregations,  cared  for 
by  hi  ministers,  all  of  them  under  the  administration 
of  one  bishop  and  the  Representative  Consistory  at 
Kolozsvar.  The  end  of  the  world  war  brought  us  great 
calamities  and  altered  our  state.  After  the  first  of 
January,  1919,  we  received  no  aid  from  the  Hungarian 
government,  nor  from  the  so-called  Roumanian  gar¬ 
risoning  authorities.  Later  on,  the  Peace  Treaty 
annexed  Transylvania  to  Roumania,  but  the  Rou¬ 
manian  government  also  postponed  giving  us  any  aid 
until  the  24th  of  April,  1921.  For  two  years  and  nearly 
four  months  we  received  nothing.  Then  we  got  the 
first  aid,  counting  from  the  first  of  July,  1920.  A  year 

[138] 


REPORT  OF  THE  CONSISTORY 


and  a  half  was  left  out  of  the  reckoning.  This  aid  was 
given  exclusively  for  the  ministers,  deans,  bishop,  theo¬ 
logical  professors,  the  officials  of  the  headquarters,  the 
ministers  living  on  pension,  and  the  widows  and  orphans 
of  ministers.  For  the  year  1921-22,  that  is,  from  the  first 
of  April,  1921,  to  the  31st  of  March,  1922,  the  following 
amounts  were  given  to  us  by  the  Roumanian  government : 


1. 

2. 


3- 

4- 

5- 

6. 

7- 


Supplement  of  payment  for  min¬ 
isters  . 

Help  for  ministers  living  on  pen¬ 
sion,  for  the  widows  and 

orphans  of  ministers . 

To  the  bishops  and  officials  of 

the  headquarters . 

To  the  deans  (for  traveling  ex¬ 
penses)  . 

Administration  expenses  to  the 
Representative  Consistory  and 

Theological  Academy . 

To  the  professors  and  servants  of 

the  Theological  College . 

Board  fees  for  the  students  of 
the  Theological  College . 


1,148.262-40  Lei 


63.300- 

221.439- 

49.632- 


204.274- 
5  0.000- 
15.000- 


Sum  total . 1.751.907-40  Lei 

For  a  year  and  a  half  (as  stated  above,  that  is,  from 
the  1st  of  January,  1919,  to  the  30th  of  June,  1920) 
nothing  was  given  to  us  by  the  government,  not  even 
those  amounts  which  were  fixed  by  law  for  the  supple¬ 
ment  of  payment  for  teachers  and  professors.  Only  in 
December,  1921,  did  the  government  send  us  500.000 
lei  on  behalf  of  the  professors  of  our  colleges. 

[139] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

II.  The  Effect  of  Lack  of  Support 

For  this  reason,  from  the  1st  of  January,  1919  (during 
the  period  mentioned),  the  Church  and  the  congregation 
were  obliged  to  maintain  all  their  institutions  from 
their  own  resources.  Although  we  did  our  best  and 
strained  our  strength,  still  we  had  to  reduce  all  expenses 
and  curtail  the  salaries  of  all  our  men  to  the  lowest 
possible  point  —  to  such  sums  as  to  secure  only  the 
barest  living.  In  such  circumstances  the  English  and 
American  aid,  reaching  us  in  April,  1920,  was  most 
highly  appreciated,  and  benefited  those  who  had  served 
us  with  great  self-sacrifice  and  perseverance.  This 
assistance  enabled  us  to  relieve  many  of  the  ministers, 
teachers,  professors  and  officials  from  their  over¬ 
whelming  burden  of  material  cares. 

III.  The  Schools 

In  order  to  maintain  our  schools  and  colleges,  the 
Church  had  a  very  heavy  burden,  even  in  1918;  but 
after  this  year,  owing  to  the  altered  circumstances,  the 
Church  was  obliged  to  undertake  still  heavier  burdens 
in  order  to  defend  and  preserve  our  faith  and  culture. 
To  the  26  elementary  schools  mentioned  above,  45  new 
ones  were  added  in  September,  1919.  These  existed 
until  the  end  of  1920,  and  the  support  of  their  teachers, 
who  endured  and  struggled  with  great  perseverance,  fell 
upon  the  Church  as  an  added  burden.  Out  of  the  45  there 
were  23  which  were  forced  to  close  at  the  end  of  1920  for 
want  of  school  buildings.  This  point  should  be  clearly 

C  Ho] 


REPORT  OF  THE  CONSISTORY 

understood.  The  school  buildings  belonged  formerly  to 
our  congregations,  but  were  delivered  under  contract 
to  the  Hungarian  government.  They  were  taken  away 
by  force  from  the  congregations  by  the  Roumanian 
government,  upon  the  pretext  that  they  wished  to 
keep  up  government  elementary  schools  of  Hungarian 
language.  All  protests  on  the  part  of  the  Church, 
telling  how  the  schools,  entirely  furnished  and  arranged, 
were  given  over  only  to  the  Hungarian  government, 
were  entirely  in  vain.  The  Roumanian  government 
claims  that  it  is  the  successor  of  the  Hungarian  govern¬ 
ment,  and  kept  all  the  school  buildings  and  furniture 
and  arrangements.  We  clearly  understand  the  dangers 
of  such  proceedings.  We  fear  them  exceedingly.  We 
sincerely  beseech  our  English  and  American  friends  to 
consider  this  question  thoroughly,  for  to  solve  it  as 
truth  requires  is  a  matter  of  the  very  greatest  moment 
to  our  Church.  Upon  the  first  view  perhaps  you  cannot 
comprehend  the  importance  of  it;  but  consider  what 
the  schools  mean  for  any  people  and  their  faith,  and 
you  will  come  to  understand  that  to  keep  our  schools 
is  the  most  important  interest  of  our  lives.  It  is  the 
foundation  on  which  we  stand.  We  must  stick  to  our 
schools  and  education  with  all  our  power;  all  the  more 
so  because  before  the  law  referring  to  the  people’s  educa¬ 
tion  was  passed,  in  1868,  all  our  congregations  had  their 
own  elementary  schools.  Many  of  these  were  taken  over 
by  the  Hungarian  government,  because  the  congregations 
could  not  pay  the  increasing  needs  and  expenses  of  edu¬ 
cation  demanded  by  the  government.  To  lose  any  of  our 

[  141  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

schools  caused  us  always  great  anxiety,  even  when  they 
went  over  by  contract  to  the  Hungarian  government. 

Last  year  we  had  elementary  schools  in  the  following 
congregations: 

(1)  Two  at  Kolozsvar,  Meszko,  Szind,  Haranglab, 
Kukullodombo,  Ikland,  Iszlo,  Nyaradszentlaszlo,  Ny- 
aradszentmarton,  Csikfalva,  Buzahaza,  Jobbagyfalva, 
Nyomat,  Szentharomsag,  Szekelykal,  Vadad,  Csehet- 
falva,  Firtosmarton,  Magyarzsakod,  Rava,  Szekely- 
keresztur,  Szekelyszentmihaly,  Tordatfalva,  Sepsiko- 
rospatak,  Kisaddrjan;  altogether  26. 

(2)  In  consequence  of  our  new  situation,  there  are 
newly  set  up  schools  in  the  following  congregations: 
Magyarzovat,  Alsofelsoszentmihalyfalva,  Toroczko,  To- 
roczkoszentgyorgy,  Bethlenszentmiklos,  Dicsoszent- 
marton,  Magyarsaros,  Csokfalva,  Nyaradgalfalva, 
Kissolymos,  Szentabraham,  Szekelyderzs,  Homorods- 
zentmarton,  Vargyas,  Arkos,  Nagyajta,  Bolon,  Kalnok, 
Szentivanlaborfalva,  Kokos,  Sepsiszentkiraly,  Okland; 
altogether  22. 

These  48  schools  have  no  government  aid  whatever, 
though  it  is  against  the  laws  and  the  Peace  Treaty,  re¬ 
ferring  specially  to  the  rights  of  the  minority.  The 
budget  of  these  schools  shows  in  this  year:  960.330 
lei  need;  the  congregations  cover  from  this  224.930  lei, 
the  American  aid  253.287-50  lei. 

There  remains  uncovered  —  482.112-50  lei. 

In  order  to  cover  this  in  the  last  year,  we  were  obliged 
to  borrow  some  money  from  the  different  funds,  and  to 
expend  some  part  of  our  capital. 

C  142  ] 


REPORT  OF  THE  CONSISTORY 


IV.  The  Colleges 

The  colleges  at  Kolozsvar,  Szekelykeresztur,  and 
Torda  can  be  maintained  only  with  great  difficulty. 
The  latter  was  kept  up,  even  in  the  last  session,  only  by 
the  great  sacrifice  of  the  townspeople  and  the  parents 
of  the  students.  The  two  former  ones  have  a  large 
deficit,  so  that  our  professors  and  teachers  could  hardly 
get  enough  to  maintain  themselves  and  their  families. 
Their  only  salvation  was  the  sum  sent  by  our  English 
brethren. 

The  deficit  of  these  two  colleges  was  in  the  year  1921- 
1922,  the  following: 

(a)  At  the  College  of  Kolozsvar  134.876-60  Lei 

(b)  “  “  “  “  Szekelykeresztur  75.739— 38 

However,  the  budget  for  the  next  year,  1922-1923, 
shows  the  following  deficit: 

(a)  At  the  College  of  Kolozsvar  421.859-72  Lei 

(b)  “  “  “  “  Szekelykeresztur  374.056-16 

(c)  “  “  “  “  Torda  206.716-19  “ 

For  our  colleges  we  have  had  nothing  except  the 
500.000  lei  already  mentioned  above  as  paid  in  Dec. 
1921,  although  by  law  it  is  the  duty  of  the  government 
to  pay  the  grants  for  maintaining  the  colleges  and  all 
the  supplements  which  should  make  the  payments  of 
professors  and  teachers  equal  to  those  of  the  govern¬ 
ment  officials.  We  could  maintain  our  colleges  without 
State  aid,  only  by  charging  the  students  exorbitantly 
high  fees,  which  is  impossible,  for  the  students  cannot 
pay  more;  or  by  collecting  endowments,  which  we  can- 

[  143  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

not  do  at  this  time.  We  have  maintained  our  work  only 
by  making  use  of  every  resource;  and  our  professors  and 
teachers  have  contented  themselves  as  best  they  could 
with  such  amounts  as  could  only  just  secure  their 
barest  livings.  We  always  have  encouraged  them  to 
keep  on,  believing  and  hoping  that  we  should  soon  be 
able  to  arrange  their  payments.  The  aid  of  our  English 
brethren,  in  a  sum  of  135.000  lei,  we  have  in  fact 
gratefully  received.  It  greatly  helped  us,  but  it  could 
not  satisfy  all  the  needs,  and  we  continue  to  feel  deep 
disappointment  and  distress. 

By  constitutional  laws  our  schools  ought  to  be  helped 
by  the  State.  The  salaries  of  the  teachers  ought  to  be 
made  equal  by  the  government  to  the  sum  which  the 
teachers  in  the  Roumanian  state  schools  receive. 

V.  The  Denominational  Agencies 

The  government  grants  a  salary  to  the  Bishop  and 
the  central  officials,  but  it  is  not  sufficient  to  meet  even 
the  barest  needs  of  the  peasants.  The  Bishop  has  4000 
lei  ($64.80)  for  a  month.  This  is  less  than  is  received 
by  a  theological  professor.  The  Secretary  receives 
1950  lei;  the  Treasurer  1550  lei,  etc.  Under  Hun¬ 
garian  rule,  up  to  the  end  of  1918,  these  officials  were 
decently  paid  by  the  government,  as  was  before  stated 
(See  I). 

VI.  The  Theological  School 

At  the  theological  academy  the  salary  of  four  pro¬ 
fessors  and  of  a  servant  is  paid  by  the  government. 
A  certain  sum  is  also  allowed  for  bureau  expenses.  But 

C  144] 


REPORT  OF  THE  CONSISTORY 


the  academy  according  to  its  constitution  needs  at  least 
six  professors  to  meet  modern  educational  needs.  The 
expenses  of  certain  special  lectures  are  to  be  paid  by  the 
church.  Formerly  the  help  of  the  Hungarian  govern¬ 
ment  enabled  us  not  only  to  keep  up  this  academy,  but 
also  to  develop  it. 

Some  of  the  accommodations  of  the  theological 
academy  were  taken  for  the  purposes  of  a  Unitarian 
Girls’  Home,  for  which  no  place  could  be  found  outside 
the  College  buildings. 

VII.  Education  of  Girls 

The  education  of  our  girls  is  a  very  important  prob¬ 
lem,  and  difficult  to  solve  in  these  hard  times.  The 
education  of  girls  was  neglected  for  a  long  time  in  our 
country,  and  in  our  Church.  We  had  no  schools  for  girls 
of  our  own.  Under  the  Hungarian  government  the 
girls  of  our  denomination  found  their  way  into  the  insti¬ 
tutions  of  the  State.  In  the  new  era  we  are  obliged  to 
educate  our  girls  together  with  the  boys,  since  we  had 
not  the  means  to  found  a  new  school  for  them.  Co¬ 
education,  however,  is  now  prohibited  by  the  Rou¬ 
manian  government,  and  this  is  a  great  blow  to  us. 
Nevertheless  we  hope  that  the  new  order,  against  which 
we  have  protested,  will  not  be  carried  out. 

VIII.  Support  of  Ministers 

For  our  ministers  some  remuneration  is  given  by  the 
government,  but  it  is  of  far  less  value  than  the  value  of 
the  old  payments.  It  was  1600-2400  crowns  before 

C  145] 


11 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

1919,  and  now  it  is  7800-13,200  lei.  It  is  true,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  majority  of  ministers  in  this  way  receive 
a  minimum  living.  But  in  some  congregations,  where 
no  payment  in  kind  is  given  to  the  ministers,  they 
receive  not  even  a  minimum  payment.  Such  are 
Abrudbanya,  Kolozsvar,  Szekelyudvarhely,  Fogaras, 
Brasso,  Sepsiszentgyorgy,  Segesvar,  Bordos,  and  some 
others.*  In  these  places  80-100  thousand  lei  would  be 
the  sum  for  a  minister  if  they  were  paid  in  the  same 
proportion  as  they  were  paid  previously  from  the  above- 
mentioned  Hungarian  State  allowance. 

IX.  Lack  of  Buildings 

In  several  of  our  congregations  there  is  no  church  build¬ 
ing.  Such  are:  Brasso,  Sepsiszentgyorgy,  Petrozseny, 
Lupeny,  Vulkan,  Jobbagyfalva,  etc.  In  some  others  the 
church  building  is  out  of  repair,  so  that  it  cannot  be 
used.  Such  are  in  Csegez,  Buzahaza,  Szentharomsag. 

The  same  conditions  obtain  in  many  places  with 
regard  to  the  school  buildings  and  parsonages.  Such 
congregations  formerly  got  some  thousands  of  crowns, 
which  with  their  own  sacrifices  enabled  them  to  restore 
their  churches  and  other  buildings.  Now  they  get 
nothing  for  these  purposes. 

X.  All  Publication  has  Ceased 

We  cannot  maintain  our  religious  literature.  Our 
literary  products  are  sufficient  and  good,  but  they  are 

*  Where  ministers  have  land  and  farm  it,  and  are  paid  partly  in  kind, 
diminished  salaries  are  less  important  than  in  the  cities,  where  the  ministers 
have  no  land  and  receive  no  payment  in  kind. 

[146] 


REPORT  OF  THE  CONSISTORY 


lying  in  our  desks.  We  cannot  pay  for  printing.  Our 
periodicals,  “The  Christian  Seedsower,”  “The  Unitarian 
Pulpit,”  “The  Unitarian  Church ”  face  great  difficulties. 
The  last  two  are  not  now  published.  A  printing  press 
is  almost  indispensable  for  our  denomination,  but  we 
cannot  afford  it. 

XI.  Summary  of  Conditions 

All  this  we  bring  before  you,  so  that  you  may  see  our 
situation  quite  clearly.  This  misery  is  not  the  conse¬ 
quence  of  carelessness  on  our  part.  It  is  the  outcome 
of  a  dreadful  event  in  the  history  of  Europe.  The  life 
and  work  of  our  Church  have  been  secured  in  the  past 
by  our  property,  by  the  zeal  of  our  people,  and  by  State 
allowances  assured  by  the  laws  of  the  country.  Now 
the  situation  is  utterly  changed,  and  the  above-men¬ 
tioned  means  are  not  at  our  disposal. 

(1)  The  State  allowance  is  not  in  proportion  with  the 
demands  of  life  changed  by  the  Great  War. 

(2)  The  State  allowance  for  our  schools  and  teachers, 
assured  by  the  Hungarian  laws,  we  do  not  receive. 

(3)  We  do  not  get  any  support  from  the  government 
for  sustaining  the  equipment  of  our  congregations,  the 
schools  and  buildings,  and  our  people  cannot  make  the 
same  self-sacrificing  gifts  now  that  they  could  before 
the  war,  for  they  are  themselves  impoverished. 

(4)  Our  Hungarian  State  Bonds,  worth  more  than 
two  millions  of  crowns,  give  no  income  since  the  war. 

(5)  Our  landed  property,  bequeathed  mainly  for 
educational  purposes  by  our  ancestors,  is  now  expro- 

[i47] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

priated  by  the  State,  in  accordance  with  the  agrarian 
law,  which  points  out  first  of  all  the  properties  oi 
churches  to  be  expropriated.  We  have  thus  lost  more 
than  three  thousand  acres  of  landed  property. 

(6)  Our  houses  and  other  buildings  are  mostly  re¬ 
quired  by  the  government,  and  the  rents  cannot  be 
raised. 

(7)  The  majority  of  our  fellowship  are  poor  people, 
who  carry  a  heavy  burden  in  supporting  their  own 
congregations.  They  are  not  used  to  supporting  the 
central  institutions  and  public  schools. 

(8)  The  building  that  contains  our  College  and 
schools,  was  erected  with  the  help  of  the  Hungarian 
government.  The  State  paid  the  yearly  amortise- 
ments.  This  debt  the  Roumanian  government  does 
not  recognize,  and  it  is  not  inclined  to  pay  the  yearly 
amortisements.  We  ask  you  to  know  our  situation. 
We  lay  before  you  our  misery.  You  have  helped  us 
with  your  liberality,  and  we  are  very  grateful  for  it. 
We  desire  to  use  it  in  the  best  way  for  the  benefit  of  our 
common  faith  and  the  further  development  of  Unitarian 
Christianity.  We  hope  that  our  Church  life  will  be 
strong  again,  our  institutions  continue  to  live,  and  that 
we  can  face  the  trials  of  the  future. 

In  the  name  of  the  Representative  Consistory  of 
the  Hungarian  Unitarian  Church,  we  are 

Your  Christian  Brethren 

(Signed  by  the  Bishop  and 
Representative  Consistory). 

Cluj,  July  1 6th,  1922. 

[148] 


VI 


THE  ORDER  OF  THE  ROUMANIAN  GOVERN¬ 
MENT  REDUCING  THE  NUMBER  OF  MINOR¬ 
ITY  CHURCHES  BY  TWENTY-FIVE  PER 
CENT,  AND  THE  ROUMANIAN  ORDER  RE¬ 
DUCING  THE  NUMBER  OF  DEANERIES 


Here  are  two  orders  of  the  Roumanian  government 
of  November,  1921,  sent  to  the  Bishops  of  the  Lutheran, 
Presbyterian,  Roman  Catholic  and  Unitarian  Churches. 
The  original  of  each  of  these  translations  was  received 
by  the  Unitarian  Bishop,  Joseph  Ferencz. 

The  first  limits  the  State  support  —  and  no  church 
in  Transylvania  can  live  without  it  —  to  congregations 
of  three  hundred  members  or  over.  If  put  into  effect, 
it  means  the  suppression  of  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the 
minority  churches  throughout  Transylvania.  The 
recommendation  that  the  parishes  with  “less  than 
three  hundred  souls”  shall  be  maintained  in  future  by 
ministers  in  other  parishes  is  not  practical.  On  paper 
it  looks  plausible.  In  reality,  anyone  informed  of  the 
situation  in  Transylvania  realizes  beyond  the  slightest 
doubt  that  this  plan  could  not  be  put  into  operation. 
Distance,  lack  of  communication  and  other  reasons 
prevent.  Already  many  ministers  in  Transylvania 

[  149] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

serve  a  central  parish  and  filial  congregations  in  the 
vicinity.  A  slight  increase  of  this  method  in  occasional 
instances  may  be  possible,  but  to  recombine  twenty-five 
per  cent  of  the  minority  churches  under  ministers  of 
other  churches  is  simply  impossible.  The  order  there¬ 
fore  cannot  be  excused  on  any  such  plan  of  readjust¬ 
ment.  If  put  into  effect  it  means  nothing  less  than  the 
closing  of  one  out  of  every  four  of  the  minority  churches, 
which  Roumania  under  the  provision  of  the  Treaty 
solemnly  agreed  to  maintain. 

The  second  order  concerns  the  traveling  expenses  of 
the  deans  of  districts.  The  Unitarian  churches  are  or¬ 
ganized  first  in  districts  and  then  in  the  representative 
assembly  of  the  entire  denomination  in  Transylvania. 
The  deans  are  prominent  ministers  in  the  districts, 
receiving  no  salaries  as  deans,  and  receiving  only  travel¬ 
ing  expenses  from  the  State.  The  same  organization  of 
districts  and  assemblies  is  followed  in  the  Lutheran  and 
Presbyterian  churches  and  with  some  modification  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  order  applies  equally 
to  all  four  minority  denominations.  It  costs  no  more 
to  pay  the  traveling  expenses  of  two  ministers,  each  to 
visit  ten  parishes,  than  it  would  cost  to  pay  the  expense 
of  one  minister  to  visit  twenty  parishes.  As  the  dis¬ 
tricts  are  far  separated,  communication  is  often  both 
difficult  and  costly.  The  combining  of  several  districts 
into  a  single  church  district  would  mean  a  greater 
expense  than  would  be  the  case  if  men  resident  in  the 
several  districts  made  official  visits.  What  then  is  the 
purpose  of  this  order?  The  four  minority  Churches 

[150] 


ORDER  OF  THE  ROUMANIAN  GOVERNMENT 


claim  that  it  illustrates  the  policy  of  the  Roumanian 
government  to  interfere  constantly  with  the  church 
administration,  to  break  up  the  groups  that  have  long 
been  in  association,  and  to  complicate  church  adminis¬ 
tration  by  adding  unnecessary  difficulties. 

The  second  order  is  a  violation  of  treaty  provisions 
in  spirit  if  not  in  letter.  Considered  as  embarrassing 
and  as  creating  hardship,  it  was  not  unsurmountable. 
The  first  order  is  a  flat  violation  of  both  the  letter  and 
the  spirit  of  the  Trianon  Treaty,  which  guaranteed  the 
support  of  minority  institutions. 

TRANSLATION  FROM  THE  ROUMANIAN 

Roumania  Bukharest,  November  1 6,  1921. 

(Seal) 

Ministry 

of 

Public  Worship  and  Arts 
General  Offices 
No.  59549  _ 

N.  B.  In  your  reply  kindly  refer  to  this  number. 

Rev.  Bishop: 

The  Ministry  of  Public  Worship  and  Arts,  in  consideration  of 
the  excessive  number  of  protopopies  consisting  of  from  scarcely 
three  to  six  parishes,  has  decided  that  beginning  April  1,  1922,  it 
will  accord  State  allowance  only  to  such  of  the  protopopies  as 
have  a  number  of  at  least  20  parishes  under  their  direction. 

In  consequence  you  are  requested  kindly  to  proceed,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  make  a  new  redistriction  of  the  protopopies  in  charge  of 
your  Most  High  Reverence,  bearing  in  mind  the  principle,  estab¬ 
lished  by  us,  regarding  the  State  allowance  for  protopopes. 

We  take  this  opportunity  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  we  do  not 
wish,  by  any  means,  to  infringe  upon  your  liberty  to  determine  the 
number  of  protopopies  and  of  parishes  belonging  to  them,  as  you 
may  deem  proper,  but  the  Ministry  will  make  budgetary  provision, 

[151  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

and  will  accord  allowances  to  only  those  protopopies  which  will  con¬ 
form  to  the  principle  mentioned  above. 

You  are  therefore  requested  to  send  here,  immediately,  the 
table  of  the  redistriction  of  the  proper  protopopies,  for  this  table 
is  urgently  needed  for  the  completion  of  all  work  required  for  the 
future  budget. 

In  regard  to  the  State  allowance  for  protopopes  for  the  current 
budgetary  year  you  are  informed  that,  beginning  April  1,  1922, 
every  protopope  will  receive  a  monthly  allowance  of  550  lei,  with 
an  additional  per  diem  allowance  of  40  lei  for  every  visit  to  the 
parishes  belonging  to  the  protopopy,  such  visits  to  be  limited  to  a 
maximum  of  four  a  month. 

You  will  therefore  kindly  see  that  a  table  showing  the  visits 
made,  with  enclosed  required  documentary  proofs,  is  forwarded 
immediately. 

We  ask  you  to  accept,  Most  Reverend  Bishop,  the  assurance 
of  our  high  esteem. 

(Signed)  Arghiren, 

For  the  Minister. 

(Signed)  Dr.  P.  Ionescu, 

General  Director. 

Mr.  Ydsif  Ferencz,  Unitarian  Bishop, 

Cluj,  Transylvania. 

TRANSLATION  FROM  ROUMANIAN 

Roumania  Bukharest,  November  16,  1921. 

(Seal) 

Ministry 

of 

Public  Worship  and  Arts 
General  Offices 
No.  59550 

N.  B.  In  your  reply  kindly  refer  to  this  number. 

Rev.  Bishop: 

We  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  the  Ministry  of  Public 
Worship,  guided  by  the  desire  to  ameliorate  the  salaries  of  the 
Clergy,  has  decided  that  vacant  parishes  of  less  than  three  hundred 
parishioners  shall  be  maintained  only  after  a  previous  approval  by 

[152] 


ORDER  OF  THE  ROUMANIAN  GOVERNMENT 


the  Ministry.  But  if  the  Ministry  will  not  give  the  approval  for 
re-establishment  of  such  parishes,  they  shall  be  affiliated  with  other 
congregations. 

If  such  parishes  are  maintained  without  the  previous  approval 
of  the  Ministry  of  Public  Worship,  the  Priest  shall  have  no  right  to 
a  salary  from  the  State. 

You  are  requested  to  take  cognizance  of  this  decision,  and  that 
the  services  of  such  vacant  parishes  with  a  congregation  of  less  than 
three  hundred  souls  shall,  as  far  as  possible,  be  maintained,  in 
future,  by  Priests  from  other  parishes  with  a  congregation  of  less 
than  three  hundred  souls. 

In  the  meantime  we  inform  you  that  in  future  new  parishes 
may  be  established  only  in  cases  where  it  has  been  proved  that  (i) 
there  are  at  least  one  thousand  followers;  that  (2)  the  parish  owns 
its  Parochial  House  and  its  Church,  and  that  (3)  the  members  will 
obligate  themselves  to  contribute  one-third  (}6)  of  the  Priest’s 
salary. 

(Signed)  Arghiren, 

For  the  Minister. 

(Signed)  Dr.  P.  Ionescu, 

General  Director. 

Mr.  Yosif  Ferencz,  Unitarian  Bishop, 

Cluj,  Transylvania. 


[153] 


VII 


THE  REPORT  OF  BISHOP  JOZAN  AND  DR. 
CSIKI  AND  THE  PRESBYTERY  OF  BUDA¬ 
PEST  CONCERNING  BUDAPEST,  HUNGARY. 

THE  CONDITIONS  IN  BUDAPEST  AUGUST  i, 
1922 


Gentlemen  —  Most  Beloved  Brethren  in  Jesus 
Christ: 

On  behalf  of  over  six  thousand  Unitarian  people, 
lately  settled  down  in  this  city  and  its  close  neighbor¬ 
hood,  have  we  come  to  see  you  on  this  occasion.  In 
the  course  of  the  last  two  and  a  half  years  the  number 
of  Unitarians  in  this  city  and  its  close  neighborhood 
has  unexpectedly  increased  from  about  2300  to  a  num¬ 
ber  of  over  six  thousand.  The  new  settlers  are  all 
Transylvanian  refugees,  who,  having  been  compelled 
to  leave  their  ancient  homes,  offered  however  poor 
means  of  livelihood,  have  moved  to  this  city.  This 
situation  has  confronted  Unitarianism  with  a  great 
problem  of  vital  and  historic  importance,  upon  the 
urgent  solution  of  which  depends  not  only  the  religious 
future  of  several  thousand  Unitarians,  but  even  the 
possibility  of  further  extension  of  Unitarian  Chris¬ 
tianity;  it  might  well  be  said,  the  future  of  the  Unitarian 

[154] 


REPORT  OF  BISHOP  JOZAN  AND  DR.  CSIKI 

cause  in  Hungary.  If  we  failed  to  meet  the  challenge 
and  solve  this  problem  of  vital  importance,  organizing 
over  4000  of  these  Unitarian  people  in  some  kind  of  re¬ 
ligious  institution,  they,  having  lost  all  relations  with 
any  Unitarian  body  whatever,  and  the  feeling  of  one 
fellowship,  in  time  might  easily  be  lost  to  our  common 
cause.  On  the  contrary,  if  we  succeed  in  bringing 
and  keeping  them  in  a  church  organization,  not  only 
they  themselves  will  be  saved  for  our  cause,  but  their 
rightly  directed  religious  activities  will  —  we  feel  sure 
of  it  —  open  wonderful  possibilities  for  further  extension 
of  Unitarianism  in  this  country.  The  situation  here  is 
so  full  of  immense  possibilities  for  Unitarianism  that 
nowhere  in  the  world  can  it  be  so  successfully  advanced 
as  in  this  very  place.  In  the  earnest  feeling  of  the  fact 
that  it  is  we  who  will  be  held  responsible  by  history 
for  taking  advantage  of  the  situation,  have  we  brought 
our  humble  request  and  proposal  to  you  as  the  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  the  American  and  British  Unitarian 
churches. 

The  proper  solution  of  this  burning  problem  requires 
—  of  course  —  materials  too,  which  at  present  cannot 
be  met  by  these  ill-fated  people,  once  prosperous,  now 
deprived  of  all  their  properties  and  short  even  of  the 
most  necessary  means  of  livelihood.  After  a  serious  and 
exhaustive  discussion  of  this  urgent  and  pressing 
problem,  it  has  unanimously  been  decided  that  the 
American  and  British  Unitarian  Associations  and  the 
other  Unitarian  organizations  that  are  concerned  in 
the  Unitarian  cause,  be  humbly  requested  to  establish  a 

[155] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

Unitarian  Missionary  House  in  the  capital.  The  incor¬ 
porated  name  of  the  institution  we  propose  might  be: 

UNITARIAN  MISSIONARY  HOUSE 
IN  BUDAPEST 

Field  of  Activities 

1.  The  house  should,  first  of  all,  contain  a  Chapel  for 
divine  services  for  those  several  thousand  Unitarians, 
residing  in  the  sixth,  seventh,  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth 
districts  of  the  city,  who,  owing  to  the  long  distance  are 
absolutely  unable  to  reach  the  present  church  on  Sun¬ 
days.  But  not  only  the  distance  necessitates  a  new 
place  for  worship  in  Budapest.  The  present  church, 
the  only  one  in  the  city,  was  built  in  a  time  when 
only  200  Unitarians  lived  here.  It  cannot  possibly  be 
enlarged.  It  can  seat  not  more  than  250  people,  so  that 
the  large  majority  of  the  church-going  Unitarians  in 
Budapest  cannot  be  seated  in  it.  It  very  often  happens, 
since  the  number  has  so  largely  increased,  that  three 
quarters  of  the  people  cannot  get  into  the  church,  so  that 
they  have  to  go  home  without  worshiping,  or  attend 
churches  undesirable  from  a  liberal  point  of  view. 

2.  The  number  of  homeless  Transylvanian  Unita¬ 
rian  University  students  alone  is  over  120  to-day  in 
Budapest,  and,  owing  to  special  circumstances,  is  still 
rapidly  increasing  year  after  year.  They  are  entirely 
cut  off  from  their  homes  and  former  church  relations. 
All  the  orthodox  churches,  financially  better  situated 
than  ours,  have  already  found  effective  means,  — 

C  156] 


REPORT  OF  BISHOP  JOZAN  AND  DR.  CSIKI 

mostly  through  the  assistance  of  their  brethren  in  for¬ 
eign  lands,  —  of  taking  care  and  getting  hold  of  home¬ 
less  students  and  other  young  people  in  Budapest. 
They  are  specially  eager  to  get  hold  of  our  youth  by 
offering  homes  and  other  kinds  of  care  to  these  unfortu¬ 
nate  young  folk. 

The  Unitarian  Missionary  House  should  provide  a 
common  home,  a  dormitory,  for  homeless  ones,  and  an 
atmosphere  in  which  their  Unitarian  faith  would  be 
strengthened  in  their  weary  hearts.  Moreover  it  should 
provide  a  place  of  education  for  all  the  children  and 
youth  in  the  capital  and  its  neighborhood,  where, 
on  the  type  of  church  schools,  they  would  be  taught 
the  Unitarian  religion,  the  English  language,  American 
and  English  history,  literature  and  so  forth,  by  vol¬ 
untary  teachers,  forming  an  English-Speaking  Union. 
Nothing  could  do  so  much  toward  strengthening  the 
feeling  of  brotherhood  as  such  an  education.  It  may 
well  be  expected  that  youth  even  from  outside  would 
be  drawn  by  it.  Young  people  who  once  enjoyed  the 
blessing  of  such  an  institute,  would  never  forget  what 
they  owed  to  England  and  America  for  it.  They 
would  constantly  bear  a  feeling  of  gratitude  in  their 
hearts  and  a  readiness  to  do  whatever  they  could  in 
return  for  the  good  they  had  enjoyed.  The  Unitarian 
Missionary  House  would  render  it  possible  to  organize 
the  many  hundreds  of  our  youth  on  the  type  of  the 
Y.  P.  R.  U.  in  America  and  England.  That  would 
bring  them  into  a  systematic  co-operation  with  their 
young  brethren  across  the  sea. 

[  157  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

3.  The  Unitarian  Missionary  House  should  be,  in 
the  real  sense  of  the  word,  a  house  of  meeting  for  the 
various  and  expanding  activities  of  the  several  thousand 
Unitarian  laymen  in  Budapest  and  in  the  country,  along 
the  line  of  advancing  Unitarianism  in  this  part  of  the 
world.  A  permanent  house  of  meeting  would  render 
it  possible  for  laymen  to  organize  themselves  in  one 
large  fellowship  on  the  type  of  the  American  and  Eng¬ 
lish  Laymen’s  League  and  to  serve,  in  an  active  and 
systematic  co-operation  with  the  Leagues,  the  same 
cause  in  central  Europe.  Nowhere  in  Europe  is  offered 
such  a  fine  opportunity  for  this  kind  of  activities 
as  in  this  very  city  of  Budapest.  But  nothing  can 
be  done  to  take  advantage  of  these  immense  possi¬ 
bilities,  unless  a  centre  is  secured  for  the  various 
activities.  To-day  the  situation  is  that  there  is  not 
even  a  single  room  to  meet  in  and  exchange  ideas 
as  to  the  program.  Our  people  are  extremely  eager 
to  get  into  co-operation  with  American  and  English 
laymen. 

4.  On  the  type  of  the  American  Unitarian  Women’s 
Alliance  an  Alliance  has  recently  been  formed  in  Buda¬ 
pest,  including  all  the  Unitarian  women  and  those 
interested  in  the  liberal  movement  in  the  capital  and 
the  country.  But  it  is  absolutely  unable  to  carry  out 
its  expanding  and  beautiful  program,  unless  a  centre  is 
secured  for  activities. 

5.  The  Unitarian  Missionary  House  should  be  a 
forum  of  Unitarian  Christianity  whence  liberal  religious 
ideas  should  be  propagated,  corresponding  to  the  cam- 

[158] 


REPORT  OF  BISHOP  JOZAN  AND  DR.  CSIKI 

paign  that  the  American  Laymen’s  League  has  recently 
undertaken. 

6.  The  Unitarian  Missionary  House  should  not  con¬ 
fine  its  activities  within  the  territory  of  Budapest.  It 
should  reach  with  its  missionary  work  many  thousand 
shepherdless  Unitarians  in  the  country  and  numerous 
unchurched  people  keenly  interested  in  liberal  move¬ 
ment.  A  work  among  them  would  open  wonderful 
possibilities  of  starting  new  Unitarian  churches  in 
cities  where  there  are  now  no  Unitarian  churches. 
The  prospect  deserves  attention  from  all  who  have  at 
heart  the  spreading  of  Unitarian  thought. 

The  Unitarian  Missionary  House,  true  to  its  name 
and  aims,  should  work  under  the  auspices  and  direction 
of  the  A.  U.  A.  And  the  B.  F.  U.  A.  also.  They  should 
appoint  a  pastor,  who  should  minister  to  and  direct  the 
whole  institute  and  report  to  the  headquarters  in  Boston 
and  London  from  time  to  time.  With  an  elected  Board 
of  Trustees  they  should  bear  responsibility  for  the  work. 

The  whole  scheme  could  be  realized  by  purchasing  a 
three  or  four  floored  house  in  a  suitable  part  of  the  city. 
It  would  cost  at  present  approximately  $10,000  in 
American  money. 

We  have  all  reasons  for  assuring  you  that  a  purchase 
like  this,  even  from  the  strictly  business  point  of  view, 
would  be  the  best  investment  anyone  could  make 
to-day  with  American  and  English  money.  Owing  to 
the  special  economic  conditions  here  the  real  value  of 
the  house  would  in  any  case  shortly  exceed  that  of  the 
sum  invested. 


C  lS9  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

The  building,  of  course,  would  remain  the  property 
of  the  purchasers. 

The  transformation  of  the  building  for  the  special 
work  to  be  done  in  it  and  equipments,  including  a 
chapel,  dormitory  for  the  homeless  students,  and  other 
places  of  activities,  would  cost  at  present  approximately 
$ 2000 . 

It  is  rightly  expected,  that  the  institute,  acquiring 
and>  developing  resources  of  its  own,  after  a  while  will 
maintain  itself.  Until  then  an  approximate  subvention 
of  $1000,  in  American  money,  would  be  needed  for  its 
general  maintenance  in  a  year. 

In  the  keen  feeling  of  responsibility  for  saving  many 
thousand  Unitarians  for  our  cause,  and  for  further  ad¬ 
vancing  of  our  common  faith  and  truth,  for  which  a 
never-dreamed-of  opportunity  is  offered,  have  we  placed 
our  humble  request  and  proposal  before  you.  Being 
encouraged  by  your  good  will,  manifested  so  many 
times  in  the  past,  whenever  Unitarianism  was  con¬ 
cerned,  we  take  the  liberty  to  hope  that  our  request 
and  proposal  will  be  taken  into  kind  consideration  and 
called  attention  to  wherever  the  advancement  of  the 
cause  may  be  had  at  heart. 

The  problem  is  burning.  It  is  urging  solution  and 
earnest  work  without  delay. 

On  behalf  of  many  thousand  fellow-workers, 

Your  faithful  Brothers  in  the  Common  Faith. 


[160] 


VIII 


THE  PROPOSED  BASIS  OF  ADJUSTMENT  TO 
BE  SUBMITTED  BY  ALL  THE  NON-GREEK- 
CATHOLIC  CHURCHES  TO  THE  ROUMANIAN 
GOVERNMENT 


With  regard  to  the  obligation  imposed  upon  them  by 
signing  the  Treaty  of  Dec.  9,  1919,  with  reference  to  the 
rights  of  minorities,  the  legislative  body  of  Roumania 
passed  the  following  laws: 

Article  1.  Roumania  shall  fully  acknowledge  and 
respect  all  the  Hungarian  laws  that  formerly  had 
secured  full  autonomy,  religious  liberty  and  equal  rights 
for  all  the  legally  “received”  churches  in  Transylvania 
and  in  parts  of  Hungary,  which  under  the  Treaty  of 
Trianon  came  under  the  sovereignty  of  Roumania. 

Article  2.  In  accordance  with  Article  1,  the 
“Hungarian  National  Character”  of  the  Hungarian¬ 
speaking  Churches  such  as  Roman  Catholic,  Reformed 
(Calvinist),  Unitarian,  and  Lutheran  in  present  Rou¬ 
mania  shall  be  respected,  and  equal  rights  shall  be 
provided  as  to  each  other's  relation  on  one  hand,  and 
also  as  to  their  relation  to  the  Greek  Oriental  church 
on  the  other  hand. 

It  shall  also  be  provided  that  Hungarian-speaking 
12  [  161  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

Greek  Orientals,  if  there  are  any,  may  organize  them¬ 
selves  as  such  into  independent  Churches. 

Article  3.  Liberty  and  freedom  in  religion,  as  ex¬ 
pressed  in  Article  1  implies  that  the  adherents  of  the 
Churches  named  under  Article  2  shall  not  be  inter¬ 
fered  with,  either  directly,  or  indirectly,  either  by  the 
State,  or  civic  functioneers,  or  any  Church  Authorities, 
in  their  religious  practices  or  services,  rites,  in  express¬ 
ing  religious  feelings  and  convictions,  in  their  liturgy, 
in  use  of  ritual  instruments,  books,  hymn  books,  in  use 
of  church  buildings,  schools,  bells,  cemeteries  and  the 
like  —  in  observing  their  religious  festivals  according  to 
Gregorian  Calendar  —  as  all  these  are  clearly  stated  in 
their  ecclesiastical  constitutions.  No  force  shall  be 
used  to  compel  anyone  to  observe  festivals  not  stated 
in  the  constitution  of  his  or  her  own  Church  (except 
those  of  the  State,  as  national  holidays). 

Article  4.  The  Church  Autonomy,  as  acknowledged 
by  Article  1  implies,  that  the  churches,  named  under 
Article  2, 

A.  May  make  their  own  laws  and  statutes  relating 
to  the  entire  field  of  their  religious  activities,  and  may 
put  them  into  effect  without  interference. 

Laws  made  by  right,  provided  by  Church  Autonomy, 
do  not  necessitate  Governmental  approval  (as  far  as 
they  are  not  contrarious  to  the  laws  of  the  State,  in 
effect). 

In  executing  duly  legislated  laws,  the  churches  shall 
be  assisted  by  the  State. 

B.  The  churches  may  “ipso  jure”  establish  and 

[  162] 


PROPOSED  BASIS  OF  ADJUSTMENT 

develop  schools  of  all  kinds  and  degree,  such  as  ele¬ 
mentary  and  high  schools  and  colleges  and  other  educa¬ 
tional  and  charitable  institutes  of  all  character.  They 
make  the  plans  of  instruction  and  supply  hand-books 
and  teachers  for  their  own  schools  (respecting  the  right 
of  supervision  of  the  State).  The  children  shall  be  per¬ 
mitted  to  attend  schools  of  any  denomination  the 
parents  desire.  The  churches  may  supply  chaplains  for 
their  own  adherents  in  the  army  and  navy. 

C.  The  churches  shall  be  left  in  possession  of  their 
real  estates  as  well  as  movable  goods,  serving  religious 
and  educational  purposes.  Properties  of  these  kinds 
may  be  accepted  or  acquired  in  the  future  too.  The 
churches  may  accept  aids  from  fellow-workers  in  foreign 
lands.  They  shall  not  be  deprived  of  their  properties  by 
the  Government,  and  shall  not  be  interfered  with  in  using 
their  own  church  buildings.  They  may  freely  accept 
endowment  as  bequests.  No  state  control  shall  be 
exercised  over  properties  of  such  kind.  The  churches 
shall  enjoy  full  freedom  and  security  of  property. 

D.  The  churches  shall  enjoy  liberty  of  press. 

Article  5.  The  churches  named  under  Article  2 

shall  be  supported  by  the  State  in  their  religious  and 
educational  aims.  The  measure  of  support  shall  be 
settled  by  laws  after  mutual  agreement  of  the  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  the  Government  on  one  hand,  and  of 
the  representatives  of  the  churches  concerned,  on  the 
other,  —  with  the  understanding  that  the  support  shall 
be  paid  counting  back  to  the  first  of  January,  1919. 

Article  6.  The  former  constitutional  unity  of  the 

[  163] 


w 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

churches,  named  under  Article  2,  with  their  sisters  in 
Hungary  and  in  other  lands  may  be  sustained  and  shall 
be  received. 

Sister  churches  in  the  territory  of  Old  Roumania 
shall  be  considered  as  attached  to  their  mother-bodies 
in  Transylvania. 


[  164] 


IX 


“THE  HUNGARIAN  OFFICIALS’ 
QUESTION” 


In  Hungary  the  officials  were  appointed  for  life  and 
were  entitled  to  a  pension.  The  county  officials  were 
elected  for  six  years  and  mostly  re-elected,  and  had  a 
right  too  to  a  pension. 

Roumania  took  over  the  imperium  in  the  spring  of 
the  year  1919  —  over  those  parts  of  Hungary  which 
were  later  linked  to  it  by  the  treaty,  and  wanted  the 
officials  to  put  down  the  oath  of  fidelity. 

The  officials  declared  themselves  ready  to  accept  a 
formula  wherein  they  would  pledge  themselves  to  do 
faithfully  their  work,  but  the  Roumanian  government, 
represented  here  by  the  Consul  Diligent,  insisted  upon 
the  oath  of  fidelity. 

The  officials  refused  it,  according  to  the  43rd  para¬ 
graph  of  the  international  treaty  of  The  Hague,  which 
declares  “It  is  forbidden  to  force  the  population  of  the 
occupied  country  to  put  down  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  an 
inimical  power.” 

The  Roumanian  government  dismissed  the  officials 
and  did  not  pay  them,  though,  after  the  law,  they  had  to 
receive  their  payment  till  they  should  get  their  pension. 

C  165  ] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1922 

After  the  treaty’s  signature,  June,  1920,  the  Rou¬ 
manian  government  ordered  all  the  officials  to  put 
down  the  oath  of  fidelity.  Ninety-nine  per  cent  of  the 
officials  presented  themselves  till  the  15th  of  August, 
1920,  and  the  government  did  make  no  attempt 
to  take  in  the  oath  and  only  a  few  of  them  were 
reinstated  by  the  state.  Most  of  the  officials  were 
obliged  to  go  to  Hungary,  where  they  got  salaries 
as  officials  in  over-number  till  August,  1921.  After 
that  date  those  repatriated  can  get  only  pensions  as 
they  who  remained  on  the  territory  linked  to  Roumania, 
in  the  sense  of  the  international  law.  But  they  got 
nothing  till  to-day. 

About  2000  petitions  for  pension  are  since  two  years 
unheeded.  The  petitioners  are  in  distress,  and  they 
urge  in  vain. 

The  following  list  shows  how  many  officials  presented 
themselves  to  put  down  the  oath  of  fidelity  and  are  still 
on  Roumanian  territory: 


I.  Officials  of  the  Ministry  of  Interior: 

a.  Kolozsvar .  152 

b.  Marosvasarhely .  34 

c.  In  different  part  in  the  counties.  .  .  .  454 

II.  Officials  of  the  Land  courts .  477 

III.  “  “  “  Financial  administration ..  .  153 

IV.  “  “  “  of  commerce . 1 .  9 

and  inspectors  of  industry .  137 

V.  “  of  the  Ministry  of  agriculture.  ...  94 

VI.  “  for  education .  399 


Total .  I9I4 


[166] 


"THE  HUNGARIAN  OFFICIALS’  QUESTION” 

All  these  officials  have  received  neither  payment  nor 
pension  from  the  state  since  three  years.  Some  found 
employment  in  private  places,  but  the  old  ones  and 
those  from  the  county  got  no  employment. 

In  the  educational  branch  several  teachers  are 
employed  by  the  different  churches  in  their  schools,  but 
the  payment  remains  far  behind  that  given  by  the 
state,  and  besides  the  churches  do  not  know  if  they  will 
be  able  to  employ  them  permanently,  because  the 
Roumanian  state  heaps  difficulties  before  these  schools. 

The  number  of  school  masters  and  middle  school¬ 
teachers  employed  by 


Professors 

Teachers 

the  Catholic  Church 

are 

1 18 

103 

Protestant 

(C 

70 

250 

Unitarian 

<< 

8 

4i 

Total 

196 

394 

590 

Most  of  the  above-mentioned  officials  are  married,  so 
that  their  number  with  families  amount  nearly  to 
10,000.  All  these  are  in  great  need,  many  of  them  have 
sold  already  their  last  piece  of  furniture,  and  they  live 
a  life  entirely  disproportioned  to  their  education  and 
social  condition. 

It  would  be  a  good  and  noble  work  if  the  philan¬ 
thropic  societies  and  missions  of  the  other  countries  of 
Europe  and  America  would  help  these  cultured  and 
unhappy  families  who  have  received  no  help  what¬ 
ever  till  now.  This  could  be  either  in  money  or  in 

[167] 


TRANSYLVANIA  IN  1 922 

clothes  or  other  materials.  The  officials  would  be  also 
happy  if  someone  would  lend  them  the  sum  of  their 
payments  or  pensions,  due  to  them  from  the  Roumanian 
state,  till  they  get  paid. 

The  officials  have  written  several  petitions  and 
memorandums  to  the  Roumanian  government,  but 
have  had  no  definite  answer. 

In  the  name  of  the  temporary  Commission. 

Kolozsvar ,  1922.  15.  Julie. 

Appeared  in  “Gazetta  Officiale”  1920.  No.  15. 

3rd  of  July,  1920. 

No.  1674.  From  the  Meeting  on  the  27th  of  June,  1920. 
Gentlemen: 

When  the  sister  countries  were  joined  to  the  mother-country 
several  functionaries  of  the  joined  parts  did  not  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance  towards  the  new  state  and  its  king. 

These  functionaries  created  by  this  very  unfavorable  con¬ 
ditions  to  themselves. 

As  the  political  situation  with  those  countries  to  which  these 
functionaries  belonged  before  is  now  settled,  I  think  it  fair  to  put 
an  end  to  the  above  said  situation.  Led  by  these  causes  I  propose  to 
give  a  month’s  time  to  all  the  functionaries  and  lawyers  of  the  joined 
parts  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  after  which  they  shall  benefit 
by  all  the  rights  belonging  to  them  as  Roumanian  nationals  and 
by  all  the  rights  which  they  have  gained  by  their  services  in  those 
countries  where  they  belonged  before. 

I  also  propose  that  a  year’s  time  shall  be  given  to  the  func¬ 
tionaries  and  lawyers  of  the  joined  parts  to  learn  the  Roumanian 
language;  that  they  shall  only  then  be  definitely  put  back  in  all 
their  formerly  acquired  rights. 

If  you  accept  this  proposition,  please  sign  joined  protocol. 

1920.  27.  June.  General  Avarescu, 

prime  minister. 


[168] 


“THE  HUNGARIAN  OFFICIALS’  QUESTION” 


No.  1674 

The  conference  of  the  ministers  held  on  the  28th.  of  June  1920 
has  discussed  the  prime  minister’s  referendum  2559-1920  and  after 
due  consideration  of  the  question  has 

decided 

that  one  month’s  time  shall  be  given  to  all  functionaries  and  lawyers 
of  the  joined  parts  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  after  which  they 
shall  benefit  of  all  the  rights  belonging  to  them  as  Roumanian 
nationals  and  of  all  rights  which  they  have  gained  by  their  services 
in  those  countries  where  they  be  belonged  to  before. 

A  year’s  time  shall  be  given  to  the  functionaries  and  lawyers 
of  the  joined  parts  to  learn  the  Roumanian  language  and  they  shall 
only  then  be  definitely  put  back  in  all  their  formerly  acquired  rights. 

This  month’s  time  begins  with  the  publication  of  this  protocol 
in  the  “Monitirul  Official.” 

General  Avarescu,  Trancu  Jasi  Gr.,  Sergiu  Nita, 
Gudalbu  T.,  Stircea  I.  V.  Argentoianu  G. 

Garofild  C.  General  Valeanu,  Taslanu  Okt, 

Goga  Oktavian. 


[  169] 


Date  Due 

f ! !  ■ 

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